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What does CTR mean?

And why AlgoLens shows a different click-through number than YouTube Studio does.

This page is AlgoLens's own analysis, not an official statement from YouTube. It's meant to help you read your own channel's numbers.
TL;DR — "CTR" usually means YouTube Studio's impressions click-through rate (how often a thumbnail/title gets clicked when shown). AlgoLens can't access that number — YouTube's API doesn't expose it to apps. What AlgoLens shows instead is card CTR, a different, in-video metric. Check impressions CTR in Studio's Reach tab; check card CTR in AlgoLens's Video Analysis tab.

Definition

On YouTube, "CTR" almost always refers to impressions click-through rate — the percentage of the times a video's thumbnail was shown to someone (an "impression") that resulted in an actual click. YouTube Studio surfaces this on the channel's Reach tab.

AlgoLens uses a different metric with a similar name: card CTR — the percentage of card or end-screen impressions inside a video that got clicked, such as a "watch next" card near the end.

MetricWhat it measuresWhere to check it
Impressions CTRThumbnail/title clicks out of times shown, across the whole platformYouTube Studio → Analytics → Reach
Card CTR (AlgoLens)Clicks on cards/end-screens shown inside a specific videoAlgoLens → Video Analysis tab

Why AlgoLens can't show impressions CTR

YouTube's Data API — the only channel data AlgoLens is allowed to read — does not include impressions or impressions-CTR figures. This isn't a limitation specific to AlgoLens; no third-party tool can pull that number through the official API. It's only visible inside YouTube Studio itself.

What to do

1
For thumbnail/title performance, open YouTube Studio → Analytics → Reach, and read impressions CTR there.
2
For in-video navigation (how well your end-screens or cards convert to another watch), open AlgoLens's Video Analysis tab and check card CTR for that video.
3
If impressions CTR is low, compare it against your traffic-source mix in Studio before changing your thumbnail — a channel that gets most impressions from search tends to have a different baseline CTR than one that gets most from home-feed browsing.

Where AlgoLens helps

AlgoLens's Video Analysis tab shows card CTR per video alongside your retention curve and drop-off points, so you can see whether a video's in-video prompts (not just its thumbnail) are converting viewers into more watch time.

Related terms

Card click-through rate Referred views Audience retention

FAQ

More on this topic

What to check when your referred views suddenly drop → How to read your audience retention curve →