Hi JW,
The Video Play and Video View metrics are similar in that they both represent a count of how many times a particular video has been watched. Because of differences in how the data is collected, however, there tend to be differences in the values.
The Video Play data in our Dashboard Reports is gathered from our internal player event collection system. A Video Play is counted when playback is initiated, the media connection is established, and buffering has begun. This can occur when a player is configured to Auto Play or when an end user presses the Play button. A Video Play is only counted the first time the video is played unless the player or media is reloaded, either programmatically or when a web page is reloaded.
The Video View data in our Analytics module is gathered via our partnership with TubeMogul. A Video View is counted when playback is initiated, the media connection is established, and after the initial buffering is completed. If playback is abandoned before buffering is complete the encounter will not be counted as a Video View, though it would be counted as a Video Play.
This discrepancy is exacerbated in circumstances where playback is initiated and then paused programmatically before buffering completes. In that situation, there is an increased likelihood for abandonment simply due to the increased window between the two events. We are looking at ways to eliminate this difference as it is (unsurprisingly) a source of confusion.
Hope that explanation helps,
Travis
