YouTube has been criticised by the TV and advertising industry after suspending its participation in a key measurement system that compares viewership on the social media site with other streamers such as Netflix and TV broadcasters.
YouTube’s owner, Google, has sent “cease and desist” letters to Barb, which publishes audience figures that are used as the UK industry standard, and Kantar Media, its research partner in the service.
The decision came months after YouTube started to allow viewership of 200 of its channels on TV sets to be included in viewer measurements alongside broadcasters including the BBC, Sky, ITV and Channel 4.
Google sent the legal letters blocking access to data to attribute viewing sessions to specific content creators citing a breach of its terms of service, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the story.
“It does seem odd that YouTube has spent so much effort trying to convince advertisers that they are TV, and so gain the benefits of that reputation, but the moment there’s some TV-like scrutiny they go legal to avoid it,” said Lindsey Clay, the chief executive of Thinkbox, the TV body owned by ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and UKTV.
“If they want to be treated like TV they need to be transparent,” she added.
YouTube makes almost $2bn (£1.5bn) in advertising revenues from content viewed in the UK, according to eMarketer.
The move by YouTube – and rival Netflix – to be measured in the same way as traditional TV companies was seen as an attempt to attract more advertisers to its platform after it was announced last February.
Simon Michaelides, the director general of ISBA, the body that represents UK advertisers, said: “Barb plays a significant role in the UK’s measurement ecosystem, enhanced by its collaboration with YouTube. It is therefore disappointing that this service has been halted.
“Cross-media measurement is inherently complex and brings challenges that we acknowledge. But we would hope for the benefit of advertisers that a resolution can be found.”
Barb figures for December showed that the number of people watching YouTube in the UK on TVs, smartphones and tablets overtook the BBC’s combined channels for the first time.
The figures are only based on a minimum of three minutes of viewing, which plays to the strengths of the vast amount of short-form YouTube content, with most broadcasters focusing on 15-minute viewing as being more representative of audiences watching longer shows.
Last year, YouTube said TVs had overtaken mobile phones and desktop computers as the main device for viewing the company’s content in the US.
YouTube overtook ITV last year to become the UK’s second-most watched media service, behind the BBC.
Google has said it does not believe the measurement service is representative of YouTube viewership, but the legal cease and desist requests relate to a breach of terms of service relating to its creator content.
“YouTube has a long track record of providing access to third parties for research and reporting, and all third parties must respect the necessary terms of service and policies when using our application programming interfaces,” said a spokesperson for YouTube.
“While the vast majority of our partners, companies and creators adhere to these guidelines, we will take action when these terms are violated, as was the case here.”
YouTube’s UK viewership is also measured by companies including Ipsos/Iris, while advertising metrics are measured by firms including Nielsen, ISBA’s Origin and AudienceProject.
“We can confirm that the measurement service is paused per Barb’s recent announcement,” said a spokesperson for Kantar. “We will not be commenting on confidential client discussions further at this time.”
Barb declined to comment.
