YouTube has faced criticism from broadcasters and advertisers after it pulled out of the UK’s main system for measuring TV viewership, just months after agreeing to be measured alongside traditional TV networks and rival streaming platforms.
The move follows legal action by YouTube owner Google, which sent warning letters to Barb and its research partner Kantar Media and blocked access to data used to attribute viewing sessions to individual content creators.
The decision came after Barb began including viewership figures for around 200 YouTube channels viewed on televisions, allowing direct comparison with broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4, as well as streamers such as Netflix.
Google reportedly cited a violation of its terms of service as the reason for blocking access, arguing that the metering process involved using creator content in a way not permitted under its application programming interface rules.
Industry officials said the move undermines 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 seems strange that YouTube has gone to so much trouble to convince advertisers that they come from television and so take advantage of that reputation, but once there is television-like control they become legal to avoid that,” she said. “If they want to be treated like television, they have to be transparent.”
According to eMarketer, YouTube generates almost $2 billion (£1.5 billion) in advertising revenue annually in the UK. 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 through cross-platform comparisons.
ISBA director general Simon Michaelides said the suspension was disappointing for advertisers.
“Barb plays an important role in the UK measurement ecosystem, which is further strengthened by its collaboration with YouTube,” he said. “Cross-media measurement is complex and presents challenges, but we hope a solution can be found in the interest of advertisers.”
Recent Barb data has underscored why measurement is important. Figures for December showed that YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels for the first time in terms of UK viewership across TVs, smartphones and tablets. However, the methodology counts a watch time of at least three minutes, a metric that favors short-form platforms like YouTube, compared to broadcasters’ preference for longer viewing thresholds.
Last year, YouTube said televisions had overtaken mobile devices as the primary way to view content in the US. In the UK, the platform overtook ITV to become the second most-watched media service behind the BBC.
Google said it doesn’t believe the Barb service is representative of YouTube’s total viewership, but stressed that the legal action was based on compliance with the terms of service, not a rejection of the measurement itself.
“YouTube has a long history of providing access to third parties for research and reporting purposes,” a spokesperson said. “All third parties must respect our terms of service and policies when using our APIs, and we will take action if these are violated.”
UK YouTube audiences are also measured by firms such as Ipsos/Iris, while advertising performance is tracked by organizations such as Nielsen, ISBA’s Origin initiative and AudienceProject.
Kantar confirmed that the service associated with Barb was paused but declined to comment further, while Barb herself declined to respond.
The dispute highlights growing tensions as digital platforms seek TV-style advertising budgets while resisting the controls and standardized measurement long accepted by traditional broadcasters.
