In Insights from an Industry Vet: Understanding YouTube View Counts we discussed a few of the reasons why your game trailer or other Youtube videos' view count may be inaccurate.
Another important reason that the view count of you video doesn't accurately represent your exposure and reach is what I call "Rip and Post."
The revenue model for many businesses is to rack up as many YouTube views as possible. One tactic to achieve this is to re-post your content as their own. This is a list of just a few websites that have re-posted the original Organic Panic trailer after is was released, less than four weeks ago.
For most small scale indie developers this can be a good thing, as it increases the exposure of your game. On the other hand, musicians and film studios often view this as an infringement of their intellectual property. If you feel the same way (and no one would blame you if you did) you can notify YouTube of the infringement
Of course, there are video service other than YouTube. And if you are really interested in accurately accounting your view counts or reporting copyright infringement, don't forget to broaden your search beyond national borders. YouKu is a popular Chinese video sharing site where we found another ripped copy of our trailer.
There are also website that will embed the video file directly into their page, like Strategy Informer or CowboyTV. And there are reviewers who will include pieces of your footage in their videos: VVGTV, PC Games DE.
Just to be clear, we personally appreciate all the coverage we can get.
At the end of the day it is nearly impossible to measure the the exact number of eyes that have seen your video. But if you want to stay on top of each and every new posting, without having to constantly search the internet, try Google Alerts. As an alternative there is also Trackur, which focuses on social media posts, and Mention which includes great analytic tools.
