Say goodbye to the ominous “301+.” YouTube is ditching its old method of counting video views for a better system.
Right now, when a YouTube video starts to gain views at an accelerated pace, the public counter freezes at “301+” so that the platform can verify that new views are legitimate and not the work of bots. After a few hours, verified views are added to the counter and it displays the correct total.
Under YouTube’s new system, which the company announced on Twitter, the counter will update more quickly, giving people a more accurate sense of the view count at any given moment. Views that YouTube is confident are from real people will appear immediately, while other views will be syphoned off to be analyzed like under the old system.
We’re saying goodbye to 301+ and hello to more up-to-date video views. pic.twitter.com/33OQuOvxcs
— YouTube Creators (@YouTubeCreators) August 5, 2015
Given that “301+” has become something of a YouTube institution, creators and fans alike expressed some sadness at its disappearance. No longer will they be able to join the “under 301 club,” the collection of videos that haven’t yet frozen the counter and broken out to virality.
RIP ‘under 301 club’
— Alfie Deyes (@AlfieDeyes) August 5, 2015
and then some for my homies in the “301 club” #Rip301Club pic.twitter.com/3qjcLa4z9C
— Bryan Lanning (@bryanlanning) August 5, 2015
RIP to the 301 club on YouTube. It’s been real 😢
— JEN Z (@jenerationdiy) August 5, 2015
*goes to a funeral*
— Sly (@SlyFoxHound) August 5, 2015
Preacher: we are here to pay respect to the +301 views club
Me: FIRST! *wipes single tear *first…
Leaves a like…QQ
Google also recently removed the Google+ integration required to use YouTube and redesigned the video player with a sleeker see-through look, both of which have some users and creators cheering.
Between the removal of G+ integration, the player update, and the removal of the 301 view freeze, the Google/YT machine is killing it lately
— Joel (@NobodyEpic) August 5, 2015
Illustration by Max Fleisman | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III
