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Check the traffic to your YouTube videos from Google+ (and other external sites)

Is it worthwhile to promote your YouTube videos on Google+, Facebook or other sites? Check your YouTube Analytics Traffic Sources report  to see your videos' watch time and views from external websites.

If you view the External sources in the Traffic sources report you can see "traffic from websites and apps that embed your videos or link to your videos on YouTube."  The External sources report is broken down by website and includes traffic from Google+, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, from Google Search, blogs, forums and more.

The Playback locations report lets you see analytics from videos played while embedded on an external website, such as Google+ or your blog.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a substantial portion of my YouTube channel's views come from Google+. Here's what I found about my Google+ viewers:
  • 81% of my watch time is from traffic from External sites
  • More than 40% of my External site watch time is from Google+
  • More than half the Google+ views are within 24 hours of sharing the video on Google+
  • Playbacks of videos embedded on Google+ counted for only about 50% of my channel's Google+ watch time minutes and about 30% of my Google+ views
  • Viewers from Google+ are primarily in the United States and India
  • 59% of the Google+ views were on a mobile phone
  • 97% of the Google+ views come from viewers who are not subscribed to my channel
  • My few public live streams have not been promoted on Google+, so it's no surprise that my Google+ views while live are close to zero.
That's information that can help me figure out when, what and how to share my videos on Google+ (and maybe get some of those viewers to subscribe to my channel).

Read on for detailed instructions for finding the Google+ traffic stats for your YouTube channel.

How to find traffic from Google+ to your YouTube videos using YouTube Analytics


The Traffic Sources External Sites report shows data from sites that both embed your videos and link to your videos. If you only want to see data for embedded videos, check the Playback Locations report (below).

 YouTube Analytics reports show watch time minutes, views, average view duration, and average percentage viewed. Consider that the view count is less important than how much of your videos are being watched.

 1. Sign in to YouTube on a desktop computer

2. Click your avatar at top right, then the Creator Studio link

3. Click Analytics on the left menu (http://www.youtube.com/analytics)

4. On the Analytics menu under Watch time reports click Traffic Sources
5. On the Traffic Sources list click External

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6. On the list of External Traffic Sources click Google+ or other source

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7. View the data by Geography, Date, Subscription status, Live vs. On Demand, Device type and more

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8. Use the Search for content box at the top of the page to view stats for an individual video or playlist

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9. You can export the report data, which can then be imported into your favorite spreadsheet or data analysis software.

Notes:
  • It takes 2 days or so for data to appear in regular YouTube Analytics reports.  Check the YouTube Analytics Realtime Report to see data from the past 48 hours.
  • Prior to June 1, 2015, the Traffic Sources > External report excluded embeds and app traffic. Data from Embeds can be viewed in the Playback locations > Embedded in external websites & apps report.

The Playback Locations report: views of your video embedded on Google+ (or another site)


The Traffic Sources report includes data from sites that both embed and link to your videos. To only view data for videos embedded on a website, blog or social media site, check the Playback Locations report.

1. On a desktop computer, open your YouTube Analytics (www.youtube.com/analytics)

2. On the left menu under Watch time click Playback Locations



3. On the Playback Locations list click Embedded in external websites and apps
Click to enlarge
4. On the Embedded in external website list click Google+ (or other external site)

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5. View the data by Geography, Date, Subscription status, Live vs. On Demand, Device type and more

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Watch my video for a quick overview:
To see how many views your video is getting NOW, check the realtime report:
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Learn more about how to use YouTube Analytics

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