Facebook Reels Play Count & View Count Scraper

Facebook Reels & Videos Play Count and View Count Scraper

Extract exact play counts, meaningful video view counts, and viewer retention engagement rates from any public Facebook Reel, video, or watch link. Simply supply Facebook URLs to receive clean, structured performance data including engagement ratios, reactions, and author details without requiring account login, cookies, or complex proxy configuration. Built for social media analysts, media agencies, content creators, and brand marketers tracking true video reach and scroll-stop retention across Facebook.

Quick Start

1. Open the Actor in the Apify Console.
2. Enter your target Facebook Reel or Video URLs in Facebook Video / Reel URLs (startUrls).
3. Click Save & Start to execute the run.
4. When finished, inspect the results in the dataset tab and export as JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect directly via API.

Minimal input example:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/2141054613462232/"
    }
  ]
}

Understanding Play Count vs. Video View Count

Facebook evaluates video engagement using two distinct metrics that represent completely different viewer behaviors:

Play Count (play_count): The Intent to Watch

Tracks every single time the video player initializes and starts rendering video frames. This triggers the instant the video begins moving, which includes automatic playback while a user quickly scrolls through their news feed or Reels tab—even if they only glance at it for a fraction of a second. Because autoplay triggers instantly, the play count is always significantly higher.

Video View Count (video_view_count): Meaningful 3-Second Retention

Tracks verified, deliberate engagement. For Facebook Watch and standard videos, Facebook officially defines a "view" as a user watching the video continuously for at least 3 seconds (or 10 seconds / 97% completion for certain ad metrics).

Why Both Metrics Matter

Facebook maintains both metrics in its backend architecture for two critical reasons:

1. Retention & Hook Analytics: By comparing play_count (e.g. 750,971) to video_view_count (e.g. 364,822), you can immediately measure what percentage of users who scrolled past actually stopped to watch for 3+ continuous seconds (e.g. 48.58% retention).
2. True Audience Reach & Advertiser Transparency: Advertisers and brand sponsors want to evaluate and pay for qualified views rather than accidental autoplay impressions.

This scraper automatically calculates views_engagement_rate (formatted percentage string, e.g. 48.58%) for every video.

What Data You Get

Each dataset record preserves your inputted URL and returns full performance metrics:

{
  "url": "https://www.facebook.com/reel/2141054613462232/",
  "video_id": "2141054613462232",
  "play_count": 751094,
  "video_view_count": 364883,
  "views_engagement_rate": "48.58%",
  "reaction_count": 19579,
  "comment_count": 839,
  "author_name": "Humans of New York",
  "author_id": "102099916530784",
  "title": "Henry might be the nicest shopkeeper in NYC. You can visit his Army and Navy Bags store at 177 E Houston.",
  "status": "ok"
}

Output Field Reference

Field	Type	Description
url	string	User-inputted Facebook URL.
video_id	string	Extracted numeric Facebook video identifier.
play_count	integer	Total play starts (all frame render triggers including instant autoplay).
video_view_count	integer	Meaningful view count (viewed continuously for at least 3 seconds).
views_engagement_rate	string	Formatted viewer retention engagement rate string (e.g. 48.58%).
reaction_count	integer	Total public reaction count (Likes, Loves, Cares, etc.).
comment_count	integer	Total public comment count on the post.
author_name	string	Display name of the page or creator profile.
author_id	string	Numeric Facebook ID of the owner profile or page.
title	string	Text caption or post message.
status	string	Resolution status: ok, invalid_video_id, metrics_not_found, or request_failed.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
startUrls	array	[]	Structured list of Facebook video, reel, or watch URLs.

Supported URL Formats

The Actor accepts any public Facebook video or reel format:

• Reels: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2141054613462232/
• Watch URLs: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2141054613462232
• Page Video URLs: https://www.facebook.com/{page_name}/videos/{video_id}/
• Mobile/Web URLs: https://web.facebook.com/reel/2141054613462232
• Share shortlinks: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/{video_id}/ and https://www.facebook.com/share/v/{video_id}/

Use Cases

• Campaign Auditing & Benchmarking: Measure true video watch engagement instead of superficial impression counts for sponsored influencer posts.
• Content Performance Optimization: Calculate hook retention rates across different video intros and video lengths to discover what keeps audiences watching past 3 seconds.
• Competitor Intelligence: Track competitor video view counts, play counts, and comment engagement at scale.
• Social Media Reporting: Automate weekly and monthly video performance reports into Google Sheets, Airtable, or BI dashboards via webhooks or API.

Performance and Execution Speed

This Actor runs lightweight HTTP requests without resource-heavy browser automation, keeping execution fast and predictable.

• Runs on standard 1024 MB memory.
• Typical URL processing takes 1 to 3 seconds.

Limitations

• Public Videos Only: The Actor extracts metrics for public Facebook posts, reels, and videos. Private groups, restricted profile posts, or age-gated videos requiring login are not accessible.
• Live Streams in Progress: Counts are finalized after the video stream has completed and archived as a video post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to configure proxies or settings?

No. The Actor automatically routes requests through high-reputation residential proxies built into the platform without requiring manual setup.

Do I need a Facebook account or cookies?

No. This Actor requires zero login credentials, cookies, or user tokens. All data is gathered purely from public video pages.

What does status invalid_video_id mean?

This status indicates that the supplied URL did not match any recognizable Facebook video or reel URL format containing a numeric identifier. Check that your URL points directly to an individual post or reel rather than a general page feed.