(Yicai Global) June 27 -- Chinese video streaming platform Bilibili is changing the way it tracks videos to the duration of viewing from the number of views in a bid to protect makers of medium and long films, which typically have less hits than short clips.

"We will use the real viewing duration in minutes instead of the number of times played as the main measurement for front-end video view counts on Bilibili to provide users with a more useful reference," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chen Rui said yesterday. The shift is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, he added.

The move will correct the current trend of platforms’ algorithms favoring short videos and in this way protect the rights and interests of medium- and long-form video creators, industry insiders told Yicai Global.

Many vloggers on Bilibili said in April that they would stop posting content on the platform due to inadequate incentives. With the number of views being used as the main measure of popularity, short video makers were finding it easier to make money than producers of long ones.

Bilibili has always been a platform for longer videos, but with the rise of short clip sites such as Douyin and Kuaishou, users’ viewing habits have changed significantly, greatly impacting its way of operating.

User-generated medium and long videos accounted for 70 percent of Bilibili's video views in the first quarter, while short videos took up about 20 percent, Chen said. This is despite the Shanghai-based company setting up a short video channel, Story Mode, in 2021.

Bilibili has paid CNY2.2 billion (USD305 million) in incentives to 1.1 million content creators over the past five years and will introduce new schemes to enable uploaders to profit more from content creation, Chen said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor