A vertical video feed behaves differently from a classic player, so it needs different measurements. Counting video starts, the standard metric for embedded players, tells you very little about a feed where the reader can watch ten clips in a minute or leave after one.
Here are the metrics we look at, what each one tells you, and how to read them together.
Engagement metrics
Open rate
How often readers who see the entry point (a card in the article, a story bubble, an end-of-article module) actually open the feed. This measures the placement and the creative of the entry point, not the video itself. A low open rate is usually a placement problem.
Swipe-through depth
How many clips a reader watches after opening the feed. This is the single most useful number for a vertical experience, because it shows whether the content is holding attention. Look at the distribution, not only the average: a feed where most readers watch one clip and a few watch fifty is very different from one where most watch five.
Watch time per session
Total seconds of video watched per feed session. Depth can be high with very short views if readers are swiping quickly past clips that do not interest them. Watch time tells you whether they are actually watching.
Completion rate by clip
The share of views that reach the end of each clip. Use it to find the content that works and the content that does not. Clips with low completion early in the feed are especially costly, because they end sessions before they start.
Recirculation
How often a clip sends the reader back to an article, whether the one behind the clip or another. This is where video stops being a separate product and starts feeding your journalism.
Revenue metrics
Ad impressions per session
How many ads a feed session produces. It rises with depth, so it is worth reading alongside it: if impressions per session rise while depth falls, you may be showing ads too often.
Revenue per session and RPM
Revenue per thousand sessions or pageviews gives you a figure you can compare with the rest of your site. Revenue per feed session tells you what an extra session is worth, which is the number to use when deciding how prominently to place the feed.
Fill and viewability
The share of ad opportunities that were filled, and the share of served ads that were actually seen. Full-screen vertical formats tend to be highly visible by nature, but it is still worth checking by placement and device.
Reading the numbers together
No single metric tells the whole story. A few combinations we find useful:
- High open rate, low depth: the entry point is working, the content is not. Look at the first two or three clips in the feed.
- High depth, low watch time: readers are swiping in search of something. Improve relevance, perhaps by matching clips to the article’s category.
- Rising revenue per session, falling depth: ads are probably too frequent. Test a lower ad ratio and compare total revenue across a week.
- Good engagement, low recirculation: make the link from clip to article more visible.
Test, do not guess
Most of these metrics move with simple changes: where the entry point sits, which clip comes first, how often ads appear. Run controlled A/B tests, change one thing at a time, and give each test long enough to cover weekday and weekend traffic.
The reporting in our vertical player covers engagement, completion, RPM and recirculation in one view, because they only make sense together. If you are evaluating a vertical experience, ask any vendor to show you all of them, not just starts.
