The views displayed on Youtube do not correlate with the views indicated in the in the xml data api file.

Question

I have used the following link as an example: http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos?vq=?-4Z95ZZ7AZA

I noticed that there was no correlation between the views displayed on Youtube and the views in this xml response file. This didn't bother me when the xml file showed less views, as I assumed it was possibly just a day behind. But now, this xml response file from the youtube data api services displays MORE views than the video on Youtube. Why should the data api not hold the correct information for this video and others like it?

Can someone please enlighten me?

Answer 1

It's because the views on the Youtube page are not instantly updated.

Quote from the Youtube Support:

Recently we have seen questions about why some YouTube video view counts "freeze" around 300 views. To help prevent confusion, we wanted to post a quick explanation of what's going on. View counts are extremely important to our community, so we work hard to ensure those view counts are accurate. Occasionally, when a video becomes popular quickly, it takes our computers longer to make sure those views are accurate. This means a video's viewcount may not update for several hours, sometimes allowing ratings and comments on the same video to climb temporarily higher than the views. So if you see your video views aren't moving, or that your video's comments and ratings are moving faster than your views, don't worry. If you're still getting views, the count should update soon.