The Stay Time
This is the number platforms trust most — seconds of real attention can't be gamed by packaging.
The average time viewers actually spend inside — measured in seconds, immune to spin.
What it actually measures
Stay time is attention in its native unit: time. Every retention technique in this handbook ultimately moves this number, which is why recommendation systems weight it so heavily — it's the hardest signal to fake.
How to read it
- 1
It's absolute seconds, so longer videos naturally post higher stay time — only compare videos of similar length.
- 2
Pair it with The Depth Gauge (percentage viewed) to get the honest picture for any length.
- 3
Don't stare at the average — open The Truth Graph and find WHERE the seconds are being lost.
- 4
Classic misread: judging a 60-second short and a 20-minute video on the same stay-time scale.