What do video plays at 25%, 50%, 75%, 95% and 100% mean?
They are milestone metrics: each counts how often the 25%, 50%, 75%, 95% or 100% point of your video was played. Meta says they may include people who watched from the start and people who skipped ahead to that point and played from there, so they show reach into the video, not proof that every second was watched.
These five columns trace how far into your video people get. Read side by side, they draw a drop-off curve: how many plays reached a quarter of the way, halfway, three-quarters, almost the end and the very end. The catch is in how Meta counts them, because someone who jumps straight to the middle can still add to the 50% column.
How does Meta count each milestone?
Each metric counts when that point in your video was played:
| Metric | Counts when | Includes skips? |
|---|---|---|
| Video plays at 25% | The 25% point was played | May include people who skipped to 25% and played from there |
| Video plays at 50% | The 50% point was played | May include skips to 50% |
| Video plays at 75% | The 75% point was played | May include skips to 75% |
| Video plays at 95% | The 95% point was played | May include skips to 95% |
| Video plays at 100% | The video was played at 100% of its length | Includes plays that skipped to this point |
Meta calls these milestone metrics, as opposed to duration metrics such as 3-second plays and ThruPlays, which add up unique seconds watched. For video plays at 100%, Meta notes it counts how much of the video was played, not how much time passed while it played.
How do you read the drop-off curve?
Divide each milestone by the one before it to see what share of viewers carried on. This is arithmetic on Meta’s columns, not a Meta metric. For example:
| Milestone | Plays | Share kept from previous step |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | 8,000 | — |
| 50% | 4,800 | 4,800 ÷ 8,000 = 60% |
| 75% | 3,200 | 3,200 ÷ 4,800 = 67% |
| 100% | 2,000 | 2,000 ÷ 3,200 = 63% |
Meta’s Instagram video best practices suggest monitoring drop-off rates and tracking video completion, and warn that many people act before the video ends, so put key information early.
Why might 95% matter more than 100%?
Because people often stop just before the end. In its ThruPlay rules, Meta treats 97% of a video as its full length, since viewers frequently drop off when credits roll or content fades out. Video plays at 95% catches those near-complete views that the 100% column can miss.
Is “hold rate” a Meta metric?
No. Hold rate is an industry term, not a Meta metric. Advertisers define it in different ways, for example ThruPlays or a milestone column divided by 3-second video plays. If you use it, write down your formula so everyone reading the report computes it the same way.
FAQ
Why is video plays at 50% higher than at 25% for some ads?
Because skips count. Meta says each milestone may include people who skipped to that point and played from there. If many viewers jump ahead, for example to see a product reveal, a later milestone can collect plays that never passed the earlier one.
How are milestones counted for a carousel with several videos?
Meta’s calculation guide says that in an ad format with multiple videos, such as a carousel ad, video plays are counted separately for each video shown. That sentence is about the video plays metric; Meta’s milestone definitions do not say how the percentage columns are split across cards.
Do replays add to these milestone counts?
Meta’s calculation guide explains replays for the duration metrics, which exclude rewatched segments within one impression, and says the basic video plays count ignores replays such as pausing and restarting. It does not spell out replay handling for each milestone, so treat milestones as reach into the video, not total viewing.
Sources
- Video plays at 25% (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Video plays at 50% (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Video plays at 75% (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Video plays at 95% (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Video plays at 100% (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- About video ad metrics calculation (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Best practices for Instagram video ads (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- About ThruPlay (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
Drafted with AI and checked claim by claim against the pages linked under Sources. Found a mistake? Tell us via the corrections policy.