Factor Dictionary
Every content choice we track and how it affects organic video reach, across 31,601 videos. Click any factor for the breakdown, real examples, and what to do about it.
Title
How you write and structure your video title — the single most important factor in whether someone clicks.
Percentage in Title
+174%Whether the title contains a percentage (e.g. '40%', '80 percent'). A data point rendered as a number carries more autho...
Ellipsis in Title
+133%Whether the title contains an ellipsis (...) — three dots suggesting more to come, unfinished thoughts, or dramatic paus...
Hyphen Separator
-43%Whether the title uses a hyphen or en dash (' - ' or ' – ') as a structural separator. Distinct from em dash usage — thi...
Title Framing Style
12 valuesHow the video title structures its hook to draw viewers in. This is classified by an LLM from the title text alone and c...
Starts With Number
-47%Whether the title begins with a digit — almost always signaling a listicle or countable claim (e.g. '5 Reasons...', '10 ...
Curiosity Gap
3 valuesWhether the title creates an information gap — a feeling that the viewer is missing something they need to know. Measure...
Mentions Trump
+32%Whether the title mentions Trump by name. Trump is the highest-search-volume political figure in the United States, and ...
Question Mark
+43%Whether the title ends with or contains a question mark.
Emotional Hook
7 valuesThe primary emotion the title is designed to trigger in the viewer. Classified by an LLM analyzing the title's word choi...
Viewer Promise
5 valuesWhat the title implicitly promises the viewer will get from watching. Every click is an exchange — the viewer gives thei...
Brackets
+71%Whether the title includes square brackets — usually wrapping a label like [BREAKING], [WATCH], [LIVE], or [UPDATE].
Media Appearance Framing
+58%Whether the title frames the video as a clip from a media appearance — mentioning CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, or other outlets...
Parentheses
+43%Whether the title contains parentheses, often wrapping a modifier or qualifier like '(Watch)', '(Update)', or '(Full Spe...
Asterisk
-42%Whether the title contains an asterisk (*), usually flagging a footnote, qualification, or censored word.
Institutional Verbs
-21%Whether the title uses verbs typical of government communications — 'announces,' 'discusses,' 'delivers,' 'introduces,' ...
Urgency Emoji
-41%Whether the title contains an emoji that codes as urgent — rotating-light siren (🚨), alarm clock (⏰), warning sign (⚠️),...
Colon Format
+41%Whether the title uses a colon, usually in a 'Topic: Hook' structure. This format establishes context before delivering ...
Response Framing
+36%Whether the title frames the video as a response to something — using phrases like 'responds to,' 'reacts to,' 'fires ba...
Dollar Amount
+28%Whether the title contains a dollar amount (e.g., $500M, $2 trillion, $14).
Platform Nativeness
3 valuesWhether the title feels like it was written for YouTube viewers or for a press release. Native titles sound like a creat...
Flag Emoji
-25%Whether the title contains a U.S. flag emoji (🇺🇸). This is a specific patriotic visual signal distinct from other emoji ...
Superlatives
+24%Whether the title uses superlative language — 'best,' 'worst,' 'most,' 'biggest,' 'first,' 'largest.' Superlatives frame...
Urgency Words
+24%Whether the title contains words that create time pressure — 'breaking,' 'just,' 'now,' 'urgent,' 'emergency,' 'just in,...
Exclamation Mark
-23%Whether the title contains an exclamation mark. Exclamation marks add emphasis and emotional intensity to a title, signa...
Contains a Number
-22%Whether the title contains any number — a dollar amount, a statistic, a list count, or a year. Numbers add specificity a...
Starts with Formal Title
-20%Whether the title begins with the politician's formal title — 'Rep.,' 'Sen.,' 'Congressman,' 'Governor.' This is a hallm...
Complete Sentence Title
+19%Whether the title is a grammatically complete sentence with a subject and verb, rather than a phrase or fragment. Comple...
Ampersand
-18%Whether the title contains an ampersand (&) instead of writing out 'and'.
Direct Quote in Title
+17%Whether the title contains a direct quote attributed to a specific person. Different from simply having quotation marks ...
Press Release Style
+16%Whether the title reads like a press release headline — formal, institutional, written for journalists and political ins...
Strong Language
+16%Whether the title uses forceful, intense language — words that convey conviction, urgency, or power. Not profanity, but ...
Second-Person Language
+16%Whether the title uses second-person pronouns — 'you,' 'your,' 'you're.' Second-person language directly addresses the v...
Confrontation Verbs
-13%Whether the title uses verbs that signal conflict and confrontation — words like 'demands,' 'fires back,' 'slams,' 'call...
Pipe Separator
-13%Whether the title contains a pipe character (|). Pipes are commonly used to separate the headline from a category or cha...
Slash
-8%Whether the title contains a forward slash (/), often used to compress two related items (e.g., 'Healthcare/Medicare', '...
Moral Judgment
-7%Whether the title makes an explicit moral judgment — framing something as right or wrong, just or unjust, using the lang...
First-Person Language
+7%Whether the title uses first-person pronouns like 'I,' 'we,' 'my,' or 'our.' First-person framing makes the title feel p...
Short and Punchy Title
+7%Whether the title is very short — under six words. Short titles create impact through brevity and often work as bold dec...
Subject Referenced
4 valuesWho or what is the main subject of the title. Titles can center the politician themselves, their opponent, a policy issu...
Implied Narrative
8 valuesThe underlying story structure the title sets up. Every title implicitly casts the politician in a role — hero, watchdog...
Title Specificity
3 valuesHow concrete and detailed the title is versus how vague and abstract. A specific title gives the viewer enough detail to...
Question Framing (How/Why/What)
Whether the title uses 'how,' 'why,' or 'what' question words to frame the content. This positions the video as answerin...
Title Word Count
The total number of words in the video title. Common political YouTube titles range from 5 to 15 words; very short title...
All-Caps Words
How many fully-capitalized words appear in the title. Single all-caps words like 'BREAKING' or 'EXPOSED' are common and ...
Emoji
Whether the title contains any emoji character (excluding pure punctuation). Specific emoji types (flag, urgency) are tr...
Em-Dash
Whether the title contains an em-dash (—). Em-dashes typically split a setup from a punchline or quote attribution.
Hashtag
Whether the title contains a hashtag (#). Hashtags are common on social-native creators and rare on traditional politici...
Plus Sign
Whether the title contains a plus sign (+), often signaling addition of related items or a 'BONUS' inclusion.
Thumbnail
The visual that appears alongside your title in search results and recommendations.
Thumbnail Visual Style
6 valuesThe overall visual composition approach of the thumbnail. Classified by AI analysis of the thumbnail image to identify w...
Custom Thumbnail
-5%Whether the thumbnail was deliberately designed rather than being an auto-generated frame grab from the video. Custom th...
Thumbnail Clickbait Level
4 valuesHow aggressively the thumbnail uses clickbait tactics — exaggerated expressions, dramatic arrows, shocking text overlays...
Thumbnail Contrast
3 valuesThe visual contrast level of the thumbnail — how much the colors, brightness, and elements pop against each other. Measu...
Thumbnail Emotion
7 valuesThe dominant emotion displayed in the thumbnail, usually through the facial expression of the person shown. Classified b...
Face in Thumbnail
Whether the thumbnail shows a human face. Our AI analysis detects whether a face is present and visible in the thumbnail...
Text on Thumbnail
Whether the thumbnail has text overlaid on the image. This could be a few bold words reinforcing the hook, a quote, a la...
Delivery
How the speaker comes across — tone, energy, and authenticity.
Speaker Tone
6 valuesThe overall emotional tone of the speaker throughout the video, analyzed from the transcript text. Captures how the poli...
Scripted Delivery
Whether the speaker's delivery is tightly scripted — reading from a teleprompter, prepared remarks, or a written script ...
Production
Technical production choices that affect perceived quality and accessibility.
Burned-In Captions
Whether the video has subtitles or captions burned directly into the video image (hardcoded), as opposed to relying on Y...
Text Overlays
Whether the video uses on-screen text overlays beyond just captions — lower thirds, pull quotes, labels, or graphics wit...
Production Tier
5 valuesHow polished the video's production looks overall, identified by Gemini's analysis of the actual video frames. Captures ...
Camera Setup
9 valuesThe camera configuration used to capture the main content — single fixed angle, multi-camera, phone selfie, etc.
Edit Density
4 valuesHow frequently the video cuts between shots, angles, or visual elements. Captures pacing in cuts-per-minute terms.
Music Presence
4 valuesWhether and how prominently music is used in the video — none, subtle background, prominent background, or featured.
B-Roll
Whether the video cuts away from the main speaker to show supplementary footage — locations, events, crowds, documents, ...
Graphics
Whether the video uses motion graphics, animated text, lower thirds, or other deliberate graphic design elements beyond ...
Format
Video format and structure decisions.
YouTube Short
+724%Whether the video is a YouTube Short — a vertical video under 60 seconds. Shorts are distributed through a completely se...
Video Duration
+68%How long the video is. We log-transform this because views don't scale linearly with length — a 10-minute video isn't tw...