YouTube is finally doing away with its 301+ view count on videos.
The company took to its YouTube Creators official Twitter account, @YTCreators, on Wednesday, August 5, to announce a more up-to-date video viewing count.
We're saying goodbye to 301 and hello to more up-to-date video views.
— YouTube Creators (@YTCreators) August 5, 2015
As the accompanying infographic explains, previously, when a video would pass the 300-view mark, YouTube would freeze the count, while reviewing for spam and sneaky robot counters — and that's how the 301+ count originally came into play. After a few hours, YouTube would update the view count to reflect the actual number of validated views.
However, now with YouTube's servers spread throughout the world, the company is more confident that its page views come from real people around the globe and are valid, so it doesn't need to keep the pesky 301+ count around any longer. That said, YouTube will keep reviewing and scrutinizing the views it's skeptical about, but only questionable views will be stalled or momentarily frozen, before they can be verified.
The announcement was met with overwhelming support by YouTube's followers on Twitter, with the official account taking time to even thank its fans individually.
The company has immediately put its new policy to use – only holding back views that are in question – as a look at its site shows as of Wednesday afternoon.
YouTube users can always say, "remember the 301+ page-view video count?" After all, it's now a nostalgic piece of YouTube history.
