Question 1

How to cancel your subscription

Accepted Answer

If you wish to cancel your subscription, please follow the steps below.

Go to https://app.thumbnailtest.com/settings/team
Click on the "Cancel Subscription" button

If you cancel within 14 days of when you subscribed, you will be automatically refunded.

NOTE: If the red button does not appear, that means the subscription is already cancelled!

Question 2

Impressions

Accepted Answer

Basics:

This is how many times your video showed up on YouTube. In other words, how many times people saw this thumbnail/title show up on their screen on youtube.com.

learn:

Impressions are a good stat. The more the algorithm pushes the video, the more you'll see a spike in impressions.

When impressions begin to flatline, it's a good indicator that the algorithm is no longer pushing the video, and might be a good time to make a thumbnail/title change.

Many videos will get a large spike in impressions on the first few days after upload, as YouTube pushes your video out to your subscribers.

Gotchas:

Pay very close attention to impressions when you're A/B testing.

If one thumbnail got significantly more impressions than another, it's possible this is a much better thumbnail, as YouTube is pushing it more.

However, if that happened to be the thumbnail you showed first, it's possible that YouTube was just pushing the video more because it's new, and this data can be misleading.

Be sure to look at the dates/times shown for each thumbnail to help yourself understand the data better.

Also, any time someone sees your video outside of YouTube, it doesn't count towards impressions.

For example, if someone sees your video on twitter, and clicks on it, that's a view, but not an impression. So it is possible to have thousands of views and 10 impressions.

Advanced:

You can actually see impressions by source, which can be very useful.

We don't yet support this in a

Question 3

CTR

Accepted Answer

Basics:

Stands for "Click-Through Rate". This is how many people who see your thumbnail/title, click on the video. If 100 people see your thumbnail/title on youtube, and 4 click, your CTR is 4.00

Learn:

This is probably the most misunderstood stat across YouTube.

Even Youtube employees have said that it's not as useful/intelligent as they had hoped.

In reality, this number changes a lot… day to day, hour to hour, depending on where people watched the video from, etc.

When A/B testing, do not put all your eggs in this basket.

You can have a high CTR, but low views, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, succeeding on YouTube is not as simple as making one number go up.

But hopefully with better understanding and data, you can make better decisions.

Gotchas:

CTR is not exactly #views/#impressions - some views don't count towards CTR.

For example, External views (views from twitter/etc) don't count towards CTR.

CTR also differs between view sources - you can have a high Browse CTR, but a low Suggested CTR.

CTR is useful in very particular scenarios, for example if a video had very low CTR, and very high AVD/impressions, you might consider changing the thumbnail/title, as it's possible that the packaging (thumbnail/title) is not strong enough to get people to click.

But, even this requires some nuance - if you have a high CTR, but low views, it's possible that the thumbnail/title is good, but the video itself is not good enough to keep people watching.

The big

Question 4

Average Views Per Viewer

Accepted Answer

Basics

The average number of times a viewer watched this particular video (in video analytics).

Learn

For podcast-like videos, this number will be higher - people will watch your videos in pieces. For shorter videos or gaming-type videos, this number will be lower - people will watch your videos in one sitting. It's mostly informational.

Gotchas

This stat has a different meaning when you view it in the context of your channel. In that context, the stat means The average number of times a viewer watched any video on your channel. It's a good stat for understanding the entire channel.

Advanced

Getting this number up means more people are binging your videos (or at least watching multiple). Super helpful for growing a large channel.

Question 5

YouTube Channel to Google Account Migration Guide

Accepted Answer

Important Notice

Logging in using a YouTube channel will be discontinued in the near future (Termination date to be determined). All accounts currently authenticated through YouTube will be deactivated and removed from our system after the transition period. To ensure uninterrupted access to your Thumbnail Test account, please migrate to Google account authentication as soon as possible. This is separate from the channels you've added to your team for testing; those will not be affected. for testing

What's Changing?

We're upgrading your sign-in experience from YouTube channel authentication to Google account authentication. This change provides:

Better Security: Enhanced protection through Google's OAuth 2.0
More Reliable Access: Fewer authentication issues and faster sign-in
Future-Proof: Ensures continued access as we phase out YouTube login

Migration Process

What Will Happen During Migration

When you sign in with a Google account, one of these scenarios will occur automatically:

Scenario 1: Email Match (Seamless Experience)

If your Google account email matches your YouTube channel email:

✅ All of your test data and results will be preserved
✅ Your team memberships and permissions stay intact
✅ Your settings and preferences carry over
✅ Your billing and subscription information remains linked

Steps:

Sign out of your current Thumbnail Test account
You should be redirected to the sign-in page, if not it

Question 6

Returning Viewers

Accepted Answer

Basics

Returning Viewers are viewers who have watched something on your channel before.

Learn

This does not mean "subscribed views". This means "people who have watched a video on your channel before". How you view this stat depends on the video - if the video is just trying to engage your "existing audience", this stat is important. In a way, this can be a more helpful number than your subscriber count. This tells you how many people watching this video are likely interested in your content - likely to watch another video (if your topics are consistent).

Gotchas

This isn't really a stat to optimize for, it's more informational. But, if you notice "Returning Viewers" is consistently low, you might not be building a loyal audience.

Advanced

If you want to start a business off of your YouTube channel, it can help to have a loyal audience. If you're getting a lot of returning viewers, it's a good sign that you're building that loyal audience.

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