Algorithm, Search & Distribution
Session starts
Also called: session initiations
Every visit to YouTube is a session, and something has to start it. Your video starts one when a viewer arrives and watches it first, usually landing from a notification, the subscription feed, a search, or a link from outside YouTube. The mirror idea is a session end, where someone watches your video and then leaves the platform. YouTube Studio does not report either figure, so session starts are a way of thinking about your place in a viewer's visit and not a number you can pull from analytics. Traffic sources and external traffic are the closest measurable stand-ins.