Why are views not counted if you embed a youtube iframe dynamically using jquery?

Question

In one of my sites I have thousands of visitors daily but after one year, the view count for the main video on the start page is still at only 26 views.

I wanted to save load times, that's why I am providing an image with play icon on the page. As soon as the icon gets clicked, I load the youtube iframe via:

    $('#introimg').click( function() { 
        $(this).replaceWith('<iframe width="759" height="426" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fduB8MivQUk?wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;controls=2&amp;vq=large&amp;autoplay=1" allowfullscreen></iframe>');
    });

I found one note here that says:

Views that originate as a result of clicking on one of the native player UI elements (either the play button in the control bar or on the static player image) will normally count towards incrementing the views for a video.

Is this the reason? Because I embed the iframe with autoplay true, so there is no click event.

Would be a workaround to do a replaceWidth and then do a trigger('click')? (Which probably does not work within the iframe...)

Related, but different on stackoverflow:
Youtube embedded video views do not count
Are YouTube view counts incremented when using the iframe Player?

Gautam Menariya Gautam Menariya · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-02T12:31:12

Views That Don’t Count

There are a few sources of views that don’t count, and a few things that will disqualify a view from counting.

Views from an embedded video set to autoplay may or may not count. This has varied over the years and there are many conflicting reports available. In general, however, a video set to play automatically is an annoyance that drives users away. Allow them to load the video on their own terms; don’t force it on them. Views from the creator of the content typically count, to a limited extent. YouTube has no way of knowing, for example, whether you’re showing the video to other people on your computer or not. However, refreshing the page dozens of times to inflate the view count will cause those views to not count. Repeated views from the same user over a short period of time typically don’t count. Repeat views are legitimate in some cases, typically music videos and tutorials, but they often take place in a single session. If the user is reloading the page each time they view the video, they’re probably trying to game the system and their repeat views won’t count.

Why are views not counted if you embed a youtube iframe dynamically using jquery?

1 Answers