Field notesfrom a measured library
What 3,486 measured videos taught us
We score YouTube videos on how much of the runtime actually delivers. These are the patterns that showed up once there were enough of them to count.
Median padding 40% median start of the useful part 1:00 recalculated 2 Sep 2026
-
Data report25 Aug 20267 min
We measured the padding in 3,002 videos. The number has not moved.
A second padding census, on 3,002 measured videos. The median is still 40%, the library has grown by three quarters, and the distribution barely moved.
-
Data report25 Aug 20267 min
We measured 3,243 YouTube videos. One hundred of them were advanced.
One hundred of 3,243 measured videos were pitched above intermediate. Here is which subjects have none at all, and the one signal that finds the rest.
-
Data report25 Aug 20267 min
One in five measured videos was not worth the time it asked for
659 of 3,243 measured videos were not worth their runtime. The share runs from 5% in science to 64% in travel, and the title predicts it before you click.
-
Article20 Aug 20264 min
How to tell if a YouTube video is worth watching before you press play
Six signals you can read from the page in about twenty seconds, ranked by how well they actually predict whether the video delivers.
-
Article19 Aug 20265 min
Why YouTube videos feel three times longer than they need to be
We measured the padding in nearly two thousand videos. It is not the sponsor segment, and it is not where most people think it is.
-
Article18 Aug 20265 min
What "value density" means, and how we measure it
The three numbers Gistil puts on a video, what each one is actually claiming, and the places where they do not apply.
-
Data report17 Aug 20267 min
We measured 1,893 YouTube videos. This is how much of them was filler.
A padding census across fifteen categories: the median video is 40% structure, and the long ones are the least padded, not the most.