YouTube partner channels will now have access to mobile viewing metrics. Media measurement firm comScore added the metric to fill a major gap in its measurement offerings. About 70 percent of today’s YouTube video views take place on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, so previous measurements severely underreported the video views of many top content creators. The new data is now integrated into comScore’s Video Metrix for syndicated digital video measurement.

ComScore counts both video views from apps and video views on mobile Web browsers as part of the new mobile measurement. “These improvements to YouTube’s video coverage in comScore help further validate audience viewing on mobile, emerging as consumers’ primary screen,” said Pete Stein, GM at Fullscreen. “Accounting for the huge share of viewing on mobile advances major measurement gaps.”

Viewing metrics change drastically when mobile views are included. Audience reach for the 50 biggest YouTube channels increased by 218 percent after including the audiences on mobile devices. Instead of 15 YouTube channels reaching 10 million monthly viewers, 69 YouTube channels hit that threshold when desktop and mobile audiences are combined.

YouTube works with several third-party measurement firms to provide data to their content creators and the rest of the industry. Mobile video views is a relatively recent addition to measurements like Nielsen’s Digital Content Ratings, which started including mobile video views less than six months ago. Measurement firms Moat, Integral Ad Science, and DoubleVerify will also undergo an audit for their YouTube viewability data.

The next major gap to be addressed in media measurements is connected-TV viewing, reports Variety. ComScore is continuing to develop products that will offer cross-platform measurements.