What you are charged for
Your campaign is charged for Ad Views, which Google Ads counts and reports. That figure is the Ad Views column in your Engagement Report.
For an in-stream ad, the one that plays before another video, Google counts a view when someone watches at least 30 seconds, watches your whole ad if it is shorter than that, or clicks it. Somebody who skips after five seconds costs you nothing.
For in-feed, search and Shorts placements, the viewer chooses to click your video, so a click is the view.
What you are never charged for
- Organic views. Views your video gets on its own, from search, suggestions, your subscribers or anywhere else.
- Views from anywhere other than this campaign, including your own other advertising.
- Repeat views. If somebody who found you through the ad watches the video again, that is free.
- Views of your other videos. These appear as Earned Views in the report at no cost.
- Likes, comments, subscribes and playlist adds. Free, however many you get.
Why your YouTube view count is higher
Your public view count on YouTube includes everything: the ad views, your organic views, and repeat views. The Sprizzy report only shows the views the campaign paid for. The two numbers are supposed to differ.
How to see it for yourself
YouTube Studio breaks traffic down by source, and views from your campaign appear under “YouTube advertising”. See Are the views real, and how do I check?.
What to do next
Open your Engagement Report and compare Ad Views with Spent to see what your campaign actually paid for.