I just want to thank you for starting this topic. It is so great to have these discussions.
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Hi @Rednewt74 when I first started in Connect almost 5 years ago we use to have these types of conversations daily, I too would like to see more.
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@abermans @Rednewt74 For me, I find this is an evolving situation. My #1 video is actually a #1 Cover “photo” for a POI (yes I know we’re dabbling in separation, but Maps still lists all the contributions as Photos). In my experiments with simultaneous photos and videos of places, I still see my photos get more views than the videos. Still, the exceptions to this are beginning to shine.
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@Latte @TerryPG I also have been monitoring the rate of growth of my video views. I’ve recently added my 30 videos as a separate list on my monthly tracker spreadsheet. My biggest increase of photo views between October 1st and 23rd is 43,956 on my #7 photo, while the biggest increase on my video list is 15,870 on my #1 video for the same period. Also note that my #1 video is only 4 months old and has quickly risen to #19 on my overall contribution list which has photos dating back almost 5 years. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
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@tony_b @TerryPG @Rednewt74 @Latte @JustJake
Keeping to monitor the situation and while it is not guaranteed (that video will always be featured) it is almost consistently tracking more views.
even when very short:
I did many A-B testing (uploading photo and the 2-3 seconds of preliminary video from motion photo) - you can probably see in my profile and latest photo.
So it is recommended to try and add short videos when possible.
What I also noticed is that while featured photos start to clock views immediately with videos there is some delayed effect - for the first few hours videos clock very few views but after a day or two they start to generate much higher number of views (compared to unfeatured photos).
On Cinematic effect
I must say that I loved the cinematic effect by google photos that was recommended on food - Thanks for the tip!
While I assume there are other software or apps that offer similar effect and despite google asking for Google One cloud subscription,
I was happy to pay for that effect.
I believe it would look real good quality of high quality storefront photos, busy shop windows, maybe even zoom into shop sign.
I’ll give it a go and see if the algorithm likes it. At about 6-7 seconds it is still relatively short.
While I’m still think it is somewhat a waste of bandwidth, as the saying goes “If you can’t beat them…”
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@abermans , @tony_b @TerryPG @Latte @JustJake
You guys are starting to make me feel like a slacker when it comes to data analysis. I was so into it when I joined connect in April, but recently I haven’t had much time or inclination to do it.
So I went and plotted my videos for the last 54 days. I seem to be doing about one every other day (25 in 54 days). Av views/day range from 2 (posted 18 days ago) to 904/day (posted 3 days ago). For me, I’m finding that anything averaging over 300/ day is very good.
I have 4 with av views 100<200 I have 2 with av views 201<300 I have 2 with av views 301<400. and 2 more, one at 542 and one at 904. The other 15 are <100.
Abermans- It looks like you are doing two different techniques. One that combines several quick shots and one that zooms in on a still (I’ve heard it called the “Ken Burns” effect. They both seem to be working for you. A 0:01 video with 14,000+ views is amazing. I intend to play with the “cinematic effect”, but I also think 7 sec is short and do you have any control over how much or how it zooms?
I have started doing some portrait storefront pans and in the 1/2 speed mode I’m mostly satisfied with the results.
I continue to create montages as well as straight video. I am continuing focusing on what the thumbnail looks like.
Here is one I did the day before yesterday. Screenshots of the original frame, adjusted frame, and the thumbnail that Maps generates.
Here is a link to the video. After I had uploaded it, I noticed I had accidentally included a “Made with Capcut” ending. When I went back to replace it with another copy I discovered it already had over 2000 views, so I just left it.
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Doing well @Rednewt74 , for someone who claims to be slacking. Amazing how quickly you reached 2,000 views on that last video. I like it but still not feeling inclined to do montages nor the @abermans cinematic effect. I’ll play at my level and continue to come back here with the analysis as the video database grows.
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I have been experimenting with more video uploads myself! It seems to be the ‘wave of the future’ too! I like the straight photos as well… sometimes it is pure magic with an unforeseen capture! Videos ‘are’ more data, and more time consuming to upload… I usually save them on the camera until I get home to my laptop (and wifi) to upload. It is an interesting point that travelers (and viewers in general) might stick to photos (mainly) to avoid the data usage (and time it takes to load the video).
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@Rednewt74 You convinced me 
Next too Google Photos and InShot (pro) I now started using Capcut on my phone.
My first video was just fun and for ‘shits & giggles’ and to try out the different features.
Creatively it’s cringe. I used all three tools for this and apart from the ‘cringes’, I’m pretty satisfied with the results.
I also started learning Canva for work-use and foresee a lot of overlapping use with the above 3.
Thanks for the Capcut tip!
Shame we can’t upload video here 
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@EvanMcNeeley true that, I often skip videos as the first one is preloaded in for example when I’m reading someone’s review, but the second one always seems to be buffering. I did notice however that if you don’t open the review itself and just look at it from the menu before, each video starts to play after the other one has ended (singular play). That might chance soon now that video is moving up the interest ladder, but it is a sign that Google realizes data can be an issue.
Wow I admire your process. I often don’t have the energy left after a day to sit behind my PC and upload my things and then do more editing. 
@JustJake this is what I just replied to someone else about. Google does keep in mind data issues and therefore singular play and ‘choppy, pixelated’ videos.
It will change soon, I’m sure of that/I hope, seeing how much focus and attention they put towards video. 
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To @abermans @tony_b @Rednewt74 @Latte @JustJake
Your numbers abermans on these amazing photos using motion photo mode Are awesome, I will try it and let you know. I think that there is no delay on your motion photos, is that Google still considers them a photo.
Your numbers on videos are excellent on videos are excellent as well. Tony b you still have the first featured placement from a video from this group.
I also believe that the short video 2-5 seconds, will work better than long videos 20-30 . Note 2 examples above.
Alfred your total numbers are impressive and your grasp of video knowledge is enlightening.
.
But top videos on Adam’s Star Video Leaderboards all show videos of 28, 35, and 26 seconds respectively.
What’s right?
In the last 40 days I have posted about 30 videos with some mixed results, I got excited when I posted one 5 days ago hit the 4800 mark, but I need more. 2 of my best are still landscape videos. I am still getting most of my hits from Google Explore which is big here in my area, Everyone is now taking videos. I am glad that Google is finally cracking down on new selfie and videos with children.
How is Google explore in your area???
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@TerryPG best advice I can give you is; stop focusing on the numbers, you don’t ‘need’ more. 
Usually the unexpected, unedited (only often stabilized) videos I post show up high for no reasons.
Maybe the time frame they went up, the credit I wrote, the location I posted, the color palette fitted the Google algorithm… seriously, I don’t know.
It’s not science like YouTube, and even YouTube is a mystery for most creators I work with.
Focus on your own skills, your style, enjoy it and maybe the numbers will follow.
That said, I do understand the numbers mean value for people so my advice is;
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Don’t overedit! No music, gimmickry, etc… just stabilize and perhaps a color filter.
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Focus! If you film food, film food… don’t start filming the surroundings, stay on topic.
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Depending on your time zone decide on your time to post. I could score xxx times more if I would post prime time when I know potential tourists (and dreamers of a different life) wander the internet, searching for a positive thing to enjoy on a gruesome Monday morning while having the blues and having to ask their colleagues; how was your weekend.
Plenty of sources to look for this on Google, like this one/ Remember that Google Map searches are different from browsing so take into account that locals often search for food before and around local dinnertime (Explore area) whereas potential tourists in a different time zones don’t know what time your dinner is served.
5/12 are videos, can you guess which ones 
2/12 are cinematics (by Google considered a video) and 2/12 are actual 30 second videos, can you guess which ones 
When it comes to ‘effectiveness’, the view count is nice, but for me it is more important; what activity had it in the last two years. Anything from before I don’t care about. I mean those are nice memories, but we all know that a couple years ago the algorithm worked completely different and the same goes for the program*(good luck getting level 10 these days or add a bunch of roads) 
*
18 out of my 20 million views come from that period. 2 out of the 2 million video views come from that period, 100% of my Street view 360’s (GSV) views come from that period. Everything from before I don’t notice as its simply to old to be relevant for me (personally). Highest GSV btw has 25000 views. The others it really depends on where they were taken but usually score an easy 10x of a normal photo.
Do what you enjoy most and stay on topic and focused
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@abermans … join them! 
Welcome!
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@Latte To each their own, I like working with numbers. You seem to know your numbers fairly well as well,
Your last statement sums it up well…
.Do what you enjoy most and stay on topic and focused
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hahaha yes @TerryPG it’s an occupational hazard when you work with people every day telling them not to look at the numbers (content creators), but you got to know what you are talking about.
Good example; I don’t mention it until we established a good connection and I know for sure they will understand. At some point I tell them what I do for a hobby and they go nuts, seriously disbelief. Two nights ago I told a creator with 456K subs on YT about my 4K views average and 2 million views in two years time. At first he was flabbergasted about ‘the numbers’, but then I started to point out the low viewtime, the fact you cannot monetize it in a proper way, and all that. Then he started to see that numbers don’t tell anything, and that I enjoy very much what I’m doing.
It’s very rewarding the moment they start to realize and even better when they start to relax and let go and just enjoy what they do (and look towards the long future, not just the next month report).
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@Latte ,
That is great. You are the first person who has tried based on my recommendation. You can share a video “indirectly”. I post them to my personal YouTube channel and then you can paste in a link, like this.
But there is a rub If YouTube labels your video as a short (under a minute) connect will not accept the link
so you have to do it this way.
Everyone is exploring a different approach to videos for Maps. I love video editing and tweaking things, so I do.
But given the number of views I see some really poor videos getting, I’m not sure it is at all necessary. That may change once Maps has more videos to choose from.
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@TerryPG ,
How can you tell that your views are coming from the explore tab?
As to length, I have no correlation yet between views and length. @abermans 1 sec video is pretty remarkable with it 14,000+ views. But as you point out the top videos in the leaderboard are all pretty long.
My personal opinion is that there is no “best” length. It depends on what you are focusing on. Of my last 25 videos, only 1 is under 10 sec. I’m pretty sure my average is between 15 and 20 seconds.
I said this in a previous post “Everyone is exploring a different approach to videos for Maps. I love video editing and tweaking things, so I do. But given the number of views I see some really poor videos getting, I’m not sure it is at all necessary. That may change once Maps has more videos to choose from.”
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Hey @Rednewt74 no concrete evidence or actual numbers but the videos and foodie shots I take are almost all, not all placed on explore tab in the local areas. Again Explore really likes foodie shots videos and outdoor park or golf course areas. Once the video leaves explore it slows down in views. Again this is based on my local area.
If on the other hand its the only video of the poi it will continue to do well. I am still well behind your and others numbers but it’s all a learning experience for all of us. And good discussions like these can help.
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@abermans I’m curious if the view count on video is even calculated the same way as photos. If you have a 1-3 second video, that is going to loop several times before a user scrolls past the block of images to move it off screen. So, do you get a view per loop, per exposure (like photos), per % of video viewed? Maybe this has been answered somewhere before, but it would seem that with YouTube as a very close relative, Maps borrowing the counter based on view time model wouldn’t be a stretch.
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