VTRView-Through Rate
VTR is the percentage of viewers who watch a video ad to completion (or to a target percentage like 75% or 100%).
VTR = (Completed Views / Impressions) × 100What does VTR actually mean?
View-Through Rate (VTR) measures the share of viewers who watch a video ad to completion or to a specified percentage threshold. Common benchmarks: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% completion.
VTR is the inverse of drop-off: high VTR means the body of the ad is holding attention after the hook earned it. A 6-second ad might see 60% complete views; a 30-second ad might see 20-30%. Anything under 15% complete on a 30-second ad is a problem.
VTR matters most for awareness and consideration campaigns where the message takes time to land. For direct-response performance, VTR is less important than CTR and CVR. A viewer who saw 25% of the ad and clicked is worth more than a viewer who saw 100% and didn't.
Example
A 15-second YouTube In-Stream ad got 200,000 impressions. 80,000 watched to completion. VTR = 40%.
When it matters
VTR is the dominant YouTube metric and a key Meta video signal. Pair with CTR for the full creative-effectiveness picture.
Related terms
Hook rate
Hook rate is the percentage of impressions that watch past the first 3 seconds. It's the cleanest measure of a video ad's opening attention.
CTR
CTR is the percentage of impressions that result in clicks. It signals creative resonance and ad quality.
Frequency
Frequency is the average number of times a single user has been exposed to your ad over a given window.
Creative fatigue
Creative fatigue is performance decay caused by users seeing the same ad too many times, measured by rising CPM and frequency.
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