What Is a “Good” VCR on YouTube? A Guide for Advertisers

When running ads on YouTube, one important metric advertisers look at is how many people watch their video all the way through – also known as VCR, or Video Completion Rate (VCR). By understanding what constitutes a ‘good’ VCR on YouTube, why it matters, and ways to improve it, advertisers can more effectively make every impression count, and drive stronger business outcomes on YouTube.

Let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• VCR measures how many viewers watched your ad from start to finish
• “Good” YouTube VCRs vary greatly by ad length, placement, and format, but shorter ad formats tend to perform better
• Improving VCR often requires creative, contextual, and technical optimizations

What Is Video Completion Rate (VCR)?

Video Completion Rate (VCR) is the percentage of impressions that resulted in viewers watching your video all the way through.

In practical terms, VCR answers this critical question: Of the people who started watching my ad, how many stayed until the end?

A high VCR often signals that your creative is engaging, relevant to the audience, and placed in contexts where viewers are receptive – all of which are essential for effective YouTube advertising.

The VCR formula is straightforward: VCR = (Completed Views ÷ Impressions) × 100. For example, if your ad receives 1,000 impressions and 600 people watch it to completion, your VCR is 60%.

What Is a “Good” VCR on YouTube?

While there is no single “perfect” VCR on YouTube, advertisers can use benchmark ranges across various ad formats to understand their own performance:

• Skippable In-Stream Ads: Typical VCR range of 60%+. As the most common YouTube ad format, performance is highly influenced by creative relevance, early hooks, and contextual alignment. 
• Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads: Typical VCR range of 90%+. Completion rates are higher by design since viewers cannot skip, making this format effective for guaranteed message delivery, though often at a higher cost. Note, while it may seem like completion rates should be higher since you don’t have the option to skip the ad, non-skips still aren’t immune to viewer drop-off – viewability loss, playback interruptions, and user exits can all prevent full completion.
• Bumper Ads: Typical VCR range of 90%-95%+. These short, non-skippable, 6s placements drive very high completion and are best suited for concise messaging and brand reinforcement rather than long-form storytelling.
• YouTube Shorts Ads: While VCR varies, we’ve found it’s typically lower on Shorts due to fast, scroll-based consumption that shortens attention windows and increases mid-ad drop-off. Creative that feels native to the Shorts environment tends to perform better in terms of completion.
• Discovery (In-Feed) Video Ads: VCR is lower and more variable, since viewers opt in by clicking. Performance is influenced by thumbnail quality, headline relevance, and alignment with user intent.

Overall, shorter formats like 6-second bumpers naturally see higher completion rates, while longer ads face more drop-off. Without accounting for these differences, comparing VCRs across campaigns can be misleading.

That said, placement matters too – ads on Connected TV (CTV) often drive higher VCRs due to lean-back viewing with fewer distractions, while mobile placements may see lower completion because viewers scroll or switch contexts more quickly.

Why VCR Matters for Advertisers 

VCR isn’t just a vanity metric – it has real implications for ad effectiveness and business outcomes:

1. Message Delivery

If viewers don’t watch your ad to the end, they may never see your brand reveal, key product benefits, or call to action. A high VCR increases the chance your full message lands.

2. Media Efficiency

Higher VCR just signals a more efficient use of your ad dollars because more consumers are seeing your full message.

3. Contextual Relevance

Ads shown in brand-suitable, contextually relevant environments tend to engage viewers more deeply. Aligning creative, content, and audience boosts VCR and makes each impression more valuable.

4. Optimization Signals

Strong engagement metrics like VCR can feed back into optimization systems that influence delivery efficiency and recommendation behaviors on the platform.

How to Improve Your Video Completion Rate on YouTube

• Leverage Non-Skippable and Bumper ad formats: Non-skippable in-stream and bumper ads naturally drive higher completion rates by design. While they don’t guarantee 100% completion, these formats reduce early drop-off and are effective for ensuring message delivery, especially for concise or high-priority messaging.
  
• Use TV (Connected TV) targeting where possible: Ads delivered on Connected TV typically see higher VCR due to lean-back viewing behavior, fewer distractions, and longer attention spans. Targeting TV screens can significantly improve completion compared to mobile or desktop environments.
• Prioritize relevance over reach: Ads that appear in contextually relevant, brand-suitable environments are more likely to hold attention and drive higher completion. Relevance reduces friction and makes ads feel additive rather than interruptive.
  
• Win the first five seconds: Viewers decide almost immediately whether to keep watching. Strong openings use motion, clear value signals, or visual contrast to earn attention before a skip or drop-off occurs.
  
• Match creative to ad format and viewing behavior: Different YouTube formats create different viewer expectations. Ads perform best when creative pacing, structure, and tone align with how viewers consume that format.
  
• Exclude low-performing placements: Low-quality or misaligned placements often drag down VCR. Custom exclusion lists help eliminate environments where engagement historically lags and prioritize high-engagement inventory, significantly improving completion.
  
• Optimize for attention, not just exposure: Higher VCRs come from delivering ads that feel intentional, relevant, and worth watching. Advertisers who optimize for completion focus on real attention rather than raw impression volume.

These tactics work best when informed by data and continuously measured for performance.

Final Thoughts

A “good” VCR isn’t about hitting a single number. It’s about understanding why your YouTube ads are watched – and how to improve engagement in a measurable way. By focusing on relevance, creative quality, and context, advertisers can turn completion into a powerful indicator of true viewer attention and real impact.

Improve your YouTube VCR and make every impression count

Learn how Pixability helps brands maximize performance through context-first YouTube advertising.