Protect hosted video links and read viewer analytics

When to protect a link or check who watched

Use these settings when a link alone gives too much access or too little information. For example, a customer success manager sends a pilot lesson that should stop playing when the trial ends, a founder shares a board update that only board members should open, or a salesperson wants to see whether a prospect watched the demo to the end before calling.

If anyone may watch and you only need a link or embed code, the hosted videos guide is enough. To keep a video inside your team instead of sharing it, see Teams and collaboration.

Before you start

• The video must be in Hosted videos with a link. Open Projects, choose the Hosted videos tab, and select the video to open its video page.
• Every plan sees plays and viewer counts for hosted videos.
• Passwords, expiry dates, recipient links, viewer contacts and retention analytics are included in Premium and Ultimate.
• Email gates and forms, call-to-action performance, the audience breakdown and team analytics are included in Ultimate.
• A control with a crown needs a higher plan. Choosing it explains which plan includes it.

Add a password or an expiry date

1. Open the video page and go to Settings.
2. Under Link access, type a password and choose Set password. Viewers enter it before the video plays.
3. To stop the link at a set time, choose a date and time in Link expires, then choose Save expiry.

After you change a password, everyone needs the new one. Choose Remove password or remove the expiry to open the link again. When the expiry passes, viewers see This link has expired.

Give each recipient their own link

1. Open the video's Recipients tab.
2. Enter the Recipient email and Name, then choose Create link.
3. Choose Copy link and send it to that person.

The list shows whether each link has been Opened. That person's views appear under their name in the video's analytics and in Contacts. Choose Revoke to stop naming that person in your analytics. The link keeps playing, and later views count as Anonymous viewer. To stop people watching, change the password, set an expiry date or turn off Unlisted link; each applies to everyone with the link.

Add calls to action and collect viewer details

1. On the video's Settings tab, under Calls to action, choose Add.
2. Choose a type. End card, Banner and Button work on every plan that can publish hosted videos. Email gate and Form need Ultimate.
3. Enter its label and link. For a banner or button, set Start (seconds) and, if you want it to disappear, End (seconds, optional).
4. Choose Save settings.

An email gate asks viewers for their details before they continue and tells them the details are shared with you. On Premium and Ultimate, Watch page on the same tab brands the video's page with your display name, logo, colors and title font.

Read a video's analytics

Open the video's Overview tab and choose Last 7 days, Last 30 days or Last 90 days at the top of the page.

• Every plan: Plays, Unique viewers, Loads, Play rate, Qualified views and Identified viewers.
• Premium and Ultimate add Attention span, Completion, the Audience retention chart and a row for each recent viewer showing what they skipped, watched and watched again.
• Ultimate adds Call-to-action performance, Scene drop-off (for videos made in ngram, after 100 qualified views), and an Audience breakdown by sources, devices and countries.

The retention chart appears after 100 qualified views. For videos longer than 15 minutes, % watched, completion and retention are not shown yet; plays and viewers are complete.

See activity across your videos

• Analytics in Hosted videos shows totals across your videos for the selected period.
• Contacts (Premium and Ultimate) lists viewers identified through recipient links and email gates. Choose Export CSV to download the list.
• Alerts lists notable viewer activity, such as an identified viewer watching part of a video, a call-to-action click or a submitted email gate.
• Team analytics: if you belong to a team, switch My videos to your team at the top of Hosted videos to see combined analytics for videos shared with that team. The team owner needs Ultimate.

Stop all access to a video

1. On the video's Settings tab, under Access, turn off Unlisted link.
2. Confirm Revoke access.

The share link, embeds and recipient links stop working, and historical analytics are kept. Turn Unlisted link back on to restore the same link. This is the same as Turn off link in the video's ⋯ menu. Revoking one recipient link does not stop it playing; it only stops naming that person in your analytics.

What you should see

Open the link in a private browser window. A protected link asks for the password before the video plays, and an expired link shows This link has expired.

If something does not work

1. A recipient cannot open their link: check that any expiry date has not passed and that Unlisted link is on. If the link has a password, check that they have it. Create a new recipient link if needed.
2. The retention chart is missing: it needs Premium or Ultimate and 100 qualified views in the selected period. Choose a longer period to include more views.
3. Numbers look out of date: choose the refresh button beside the period menu.
4. A setting opens plan options: it needs a higher plan. Settings you already saved keep their values, so you can remove them on your current plan.