YouTube Metrics
Suggested Videos
Suggested videos is the YouTube traffic source for views from the suggestions shown next to or after another video, and from links in descriptions.
By Aymane Senhaji · checked against YouTube's own help pages ·
What are suggested videos on YouTube?
Suggested videos is a traffic source in YouTube Analytics. It counts views from the suggestions YouTube shows next to a video or after it ends, and from links in video descriptions. When someone finishes one video and clicks yours from the list beside it, that view is a suggested view.
How suggested traffic works
A suggestion is YouTube betting that a viewer who just watched one video will want yours next. The bet depends on the video they are on. That is why the suggested videos card in your analytics names specific videos: those are the videos your thumbnail appeared next to and won against.
Suggested videos vs browse features
| Suggested videos | Browse features | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the viewer is | On a watch page, mid-session | On the home page or a feed |
| What they just did | Watched a related video | Opened YouTube |
| Thumbnail size on desktop | About 168 pixels wide, in the column beside the player | A full card in the feed |
| What it rewards | A thumbnail that reads at a very small size | A thumbnail that stops a scroll |
Where you see it
In YouTube Studio, open a video's Analytics and go to the Reach tab. The traffic source card shows suggested videos as a share of views, and a separate card lists the videos sending them.
Why suggested videos matter for thumbnails
On desktop, the suggestion column is the smallest place a thumbnail has to win: about 168 pixels wide, next to a title and a channel name. Detail that looks good at full size disappears. A face with one clear emotion, strong contrast and two or three words at most is what survives at that scale.
It is also where a thumbnail competes most directly. The viewer has just watched something similar, and every other suggestion in the column is about the same topic. Shrink your thumbnail to that width and look at it next to its neighbours before you publish it.
Questions about Suggested Videos
Do links in a video's description count as suggested videos?
Yes. YouTube Analytics counts traffic from links in video descriptions under suggested videos, along with the suggestions that appear next to or after other videos.
How do I see which videos send me suggested traffic?
In YouTube Studio, open the video's Analytics and the Reach tab, then the card for suggested videos. It lists the specific videos viewers were watching when they picked yours.
Sources
Make the thumbnail
Paste your video's link: the brief is written for you, the text is read back and the image is checked at feed size. 60 free credits, no card.