YouTube has been criticised by broadcasters and advertisers after withdrawing from the UK’s main television audience measurement system, just months after agreeing to be measured alongside traditional TV channels and rival streaming platforms.
The move follows legal action by YouTube’s owner, Google, which sent cease-and-desist letters to Barb and its research partner Kantar Media, blocking access to data used to attribute viewing sessions to individual content creators.
The decision came after Barb began including viewing figures for around 200 YouTube channels watched on TV sets, allowing direct comparison with broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4, as well as streamers including Netflix.
According to reports, Google cited a breach of its terms of service as the reason for blocking access, arguing that the measurement process involved the use of creator content in ways not permitted under its application programming interface rules.
Industry figures said the move undermined YouTube’s efforts to position itself as a television-equivalent platform for advertisers.
Lindsey Clay, chief executive of Thinkbox, which represents ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and UKTV, said the decision raised questions about transparency.
“It does seem odd that YouTube has spent so much effort trying to convince advertisers that they are TV, and so gain the benefits of that reputation, but the moment there’s some TV-like scrutiny they go legal to avoid it,” she said. “If they want to be treated like TV, they need to be transparent.”
YouTube is estimated to generate almost $2bn (£1.5bn) a year in UK advertising revenue, according to eMarketer. Its participation in Barb’s measurement system was announced last February as part of a broader push by digital platforms to attract larger TV advertising budgets by allowing cross-platform comparisons.
Simon Michaelides, director general of ISBA, said the suspension was disappointing for advertisers.
“Barb plays a significant role in the UK’s measurement ecosystem, enhanced by its collaboration with YouTube,” he said. “Cross-media measurement is complex and brings challenges, but we would hope that a resolution can be found in the interests of advertisers.”
Recent Barb data underlined why the measurement matters. Figures for December showed YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels for the first time in terms of UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets. However, the methodology counts a minimum of three minutes’ viewing, a metric that favours short-form platforms such as YouTube, compared with broadcasters’ preference for longer viewing thresholds.
Last year, YouTube said TV sets had overtaken mobile devices as the primary way its content is watched in the US. In the UK, the platform overtook ITV to become the second most-watched media service, behind the BBC.
Google said it did not believe the Barb service was representative of YouTube’s overall viewership, but stressed that the legal action was based on terms-of-service compliance rather than opposition to measurement itself.
“YouTube has a long track record of providing access to third parties for research and reporting,” a spokesperson said. “All third parties must respect our terms of service and policies when using our APIs, and we will take action when these are violated.”
YouTube’s UK audiences are also measured by firms including Ipsos/Iris, while advertising performance is tracked by organisations such as Nielsen, ISBA’s Origin initiative and AudienceProject.
Kantar confirmed the Barb-linked service had been paused but declined to comment further, while Barb itself declined to respond.
The dispute highlights growing tensions as digital platforms seek TV-style advertising budgets while resisting the scrutiny and standardised measurement long accepted by traditional broadcasters.
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YouTube criticised for pulling out of UK TV audience measurement system