Is a retention spike or dip good or bad, and can I tell skipping from quitting?

Problem: editors over-read spikes as wins and dips as failures. Conditions: video meets eligibility (60 s, 100 views). Method: treat each marker as a prompt to inspect the footage at that timecode. YouTube lists two readings of a spike: viewers watched it more than earlier parts, or the content was unclear so viewers rewatched. A dip means skipped or stopped watching, and the page asks you to review why interest was lost. Also flat means watched start to finish, and gradual decline is normal tapering. Failure modes: assuming a spike means quality when it may mean confusion; assuming a dip means quitting when it may be skipping. Limitations: the report as described does not separate skip from exit or rewatch from share; segment views can exceed total views. Version/date: help page fetched 2026-10-24. Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Limitations: The procedure to disambiguate is my inference; YouTube only says to review. No measured effect sizes are given. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314415?hl=en",
      "note": "Spikes; Dips; Understand key moments"
    }
  ]
}