Where videos end up: what 1,565 reverse video searches show
What happens to a video once it is online? We measured it on the searches people ran on Retrace: 1,565 video searches (plus 439 image searches, treated separately) from 121 countries, between 26 July 2026 and 13 November 2026, almost all of them in October and November 2026.
This is a self-selected sample: videos someone wanted to trace. It describes those searches, not the internet as a whole. See Method and limits.
Key findings
- 01Of 540 videos that arrived as a platform link, 23.3% had a copy verified by frame on a different platform (14.8% on the strict test).
- 02Of the 415 videos with a verified copy, 39.3% were verified on two or more platforms.
- 03Video files uploaded without a link: 18.4% had a verified copy (181 of 984).
- 0416.9% of video searches returned no result page at all; for image searches the figure is 74.3%.
- 05Depending on the platform the link came from, between 20.4% and 27.5% had a verified copy on another platform (samples of 51 to 157 per origin).
Cite this
Retrace (2026). Where videos end up: what 1,565 reverse video searches show. Retrace research, 13 November 2026. https://retrace.video/research/where-videos-end-up-2026
Figures and tables on this page may be reproduced with a citation to the source above. The aggregates are drawn from data as of 13 November 2026; if you cite a figure, cite the date.
What was measured
The population is every completed search made on retrace.video by external visitors between 26 July 2026 and 13 November 2026; internal and test accounts are excluded. 99.6% of the 2,004 searches fall in October and November 2026. Of the 2,004, 1,565 were videos and 439 were still images (image uploads); the two are never mixed in the video figures below.
- July 20260.3% · 6 searches
- August 20260.1% · 2 searches
- October 202630.3% · 608 searches
- November 202669.3% · 1,388 searches
Data table: Searches by month and by type of input
| Group | Searches |
|---|---|
| July 2026 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 608 |
| November 2026 | 1,388 |
| Video searches, from a link | 581 |
| Video searches, from an uploaded file | 984 |
| Video searches, total | 1,565 |
| Image searches | 439 |
| Searches flagged as screen recordings | 115 |
| Countries | 121 |
581 video searches started from a link and 984 from an uploaded file. 115 searches were flagged as screen recordings. We report no individual country: only that the searches came from 121.
A verified copy on a different platform
540 of the video searches arrived as a link to a video platform. For those, we asked whether a copy verified by frame exists on a platform other than the one the link came from. For 23.3% (126 of 540) the answer was yes. Counting only the strict verdict, the figure is 14.8% (80).
By platform of origin the shares sit in a narrow band. The samples are small (51 to 157 searches per origin), so the differences between platforms should not be over-read; take them as a range, not a ranking.
- YouTube (n = 157)20.4% · 32 of 157
- TikTok (n = 146)23.3% · 34 of 146
- Facebook (n = 108)25.9% · 28 of 108
- Instagram (n = 77)23.4% · 18 of 77
- X / Twitter (n = 51)27.5% · 14 of 51
Data table: Verified copy on another platform, by platform the link came from
| Link came from | Searches | Verified elsewhere | % | Strict (confirmed) | Strict % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 157 | 32 | 20.4% | 24 | 15.3% |
| TikTok | 146 | 34 | 23.3% | 25 | 17.1% |
| 108 | 28 | 25.9% | 13 | 12.0% | |
| 77 | 18 | 23.4% | 14 | 18.2% | |
| X / Twitter | 51 | 14 | 27.5% | 4 | 7.8% |
| All platform links | 540 | 126 | 23.3% | 80 | 14.8% |
Where the verified copies were
For each origin, the platforms on which a verified copy appeared, as a share of that origin’s searches. A video can be verified on more than one platform, so the shares do not add up to the total above.
Data table: Platforms with a verified copy, by platform the link came from (share of that origin's searches)
| Link came from | Platforms with a verified copy: searches (% of origin) |
|---|---|
| YouTube (n = 157) | TikTok 18 (11.5%) · Facebook 14 (8.9%) · Instagram 13 (8.3%) · X / Twitter 11 (7.0%) · Reddit 3 (1.9%) · Dailymotion 2 (1.3%) |
| TikTok (n = 146) | Instagram 15 (10.3%) · Facebook 12 (8.2%) · YouTube 11 (7.5%) · X / Twitter 3 (2.1%) · Pinterest 1 (0.7%) · Bilibili 1 (0.7%) |
| Facebook (n = 108) | Instagram 13 (12.0%) · TikTok 9 (8.3%) · YouTube 8 (7.4%) · X / Twitter 4 (3.7%) · Bilibili 1 (0.9%) · Dailymotion 1 (0.9%) |
| Instagram (n = 77) | YouTube 10 (13.0%) · X / Twitter 6 (7.8%) · Facebook 4 (5.2%) · TikTok 3 (3.9%) · Threads 1 (1.3%) · Reddit 1 (1.3%) |
| X / Twitter (n = 51) | Instagram 6 (11.8%) · Facebook 5 (9.8%) · TikTok 3 (5.9%) · Reddit 2 (3.9%) · YouTube 2 (3.9%) · Telegram 2 (3.9%) |
On how many platforms a verified copy appears
415 of the 1,565 video searches (26.5%) had a verified copy somewhere. Among those, 60.7% were verified on a single platform and 39.3% on two or more.
- 1 platform60.7% · 252 videos
- 2 platforms23.4% · 97 videos
- 3 or more platforms15.9% · 66 videos
Data table: Number of platforms with a verified copy
| Platforms | Videos | % of videos with a verified copy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 platform | 252 | 60.7% |
| 2 platforms | 97 | 23.4% |
| 3 or more platforms | 66 | 15.9% |
Files uploaded without a link
984 video searches started from an uploaded file, with no link to say where it came from. 181 of them (18.4%) had a verified copy on some platform; 92 (9.3%) on the strict verdict.
Do not compare this figure with the one for links. For a link, the platform it came from is excluded from the count; for an uploaded file there is no such platform.
Data table: Uploaded video files: verified copies
| Measure | Searches | % |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded video files | 984 | |
| Verified copy | 181 | 18.4% |
| Verified copy, strict (confirmed) | 92 | 9.3% |
Searches with no result at all
265 of 1,565 video searches (16.9%) returned no result page. For the 439 image searches it was 326 (74.3%).
- Video searches16.9% · 265 of 1,565
- Image searches74.3% · 326 of 439
Data table: Searches by outcome
| Type | Searches | Any result page | % | No result page | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video | 1,565 | 1,300 | 83.1% | 265 | 16.9% |
| Image | 439 | 113 | 25.7% | 326 | 74.3% |
What people are looking for
Searchers can say why they are searching. Most do not: 48.8% of the 2,004 searches (videos and images together) state no purpose. Among the rest, the labels below are as recorded.
- (not stated)48.8% · 977 searches
- origin26.4% · 529 searches
- person9.8% · 196 searches
- reposted7.2% · 145 searches
- song6.9% · 139 searches
- other0.7% · 15 searches
- product0.1% · 3 searches
Data table: Stated purpose of the search
| Purpose | Searches | % |
|---|---|---|
| (not stated) | 977 | 48.8% |
| origin | 529 | 26.4% |
| person | 196 | 9.8% |
| reposted | 145 | 7.2% |
| song | 139 | 6.9% |
| other | 15 | 0.7% |
| product | 3 | 0.1% |
Where the links come from
Of 581 searches started from a link, here is what the link pointed to.
- YouTube27.0% · 157 searches
- TikTok25.1% · 146 searches
- Facebook18.6% · 108 searches
- Instagram13.3% · 77 searches
- X / Twitter8.8% · 51 searches
- other site5.0% · 29 searches
- direct media file2.1% · 12 searches
- Snapchat0.2% · 1 searches
Data table: Origin of the searched link
| Link pointed to | Searches | % |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 157 | 27.0% |
| TikTok | 146 | 25.1% |
| 108 | 18.6% | |
| 77 | 13.3% | |
| X / Twitter | 51 | 8.8% |
| other site | 29 | 5.0% |
| direct media file | 12 | 2.1% |
| Snapchat | 1 | 0.2% |
Candidate pages, not verified copies
The search returned at least one candidate page on a video platform; candidates include look-alikes and are NOT verified copies. The figures in this section are therefore weaker than everything above and are shown only for completeness.
1,146 of 1,565 video searches (73.2%) returned at least one candidate page on a video platform. The table shows how often each platform appeared among those candidates. It says where the search engines surfaced pages, not where the video was copied.
- YouTube76.9% · 881 searches
- Instagram72.8% · 834 searches
- Facebook69.5% · 797 searches
- TikTok65.5% · 751 searches
- X / Twitter34.0% · 390 searches
- Reddit29.3% · 336 searches
- Threads8.9% · 102 searches
- Pinterest5.0% · 57 searches
- Dailymotion3.9% · 45 searches
- Snapchat3.7% · 42 searches
- Bilibili2.6% · 30 searches
- Telegram1.0% · 11 searches
Data table: Candidate pages by platform (not verified copies)
| Platform | Searches with a candidate page | % of searches with any candidate |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 881 | 76.9% |
| 834 | 72.8% | |
| 797 | 69.5% | |
| TikTok | 751 | 65.5% |
| X / Twitter | 390 | 34.0% |
| 336 | 29.3% | |
| Threads | 102 | 8.9% |
| 57 | 5.0% | |
| Dailymotion | 45 | 3.9% |
| Snapchat | 42 | 3.7% |
| Bilibili | 30 | 2.6% |
| Telegram | 11 | 1.0% |
Method and limits
- Self-selected sample. These are videos someone wanted to trace, not a random sample of the internet. Do not read any figure here as "X% of all videos".
- Verified copy. At least one result page whose thumbnail was matched to a frame of the searched video by Retrace's frame check (verdict confirmed or probable). The strict count keeps only the verdict “confirmed”.
- A minimum. Copies that are private, deleted or not indexed cannot be seen, so every verified-copy figure is a floor, not a total.
- Copy does not imply wrongdoing. A copy on another platform does not mean the video was taken without permission: many creators publish the same video on several platforms. These figures say where copies exist, not who made them or whether they were authorised.
- Candidates are not copies. The search returned at least one candidate page on a video platform; candidates include look-alikes and are NOT verified copies.
- Another platform. A platform different from the one the searched link came from.
- Small samples by origin. Per-platform figures rest on 51 to 157 searches each; Reddit links are too few to report.
- Aggregates only. No individual video, link, account or country is identifiable from this page; every figure is a count or a share of counts. Percentages are shown to one decimal, as computed.
- Dates. The data covers 26 July 2026 to 13 November 2026, with 99.6% of searches in October and November 2026. This page will be updated as more searches accumulate; the date above tells you which version you are reading.
For journalists and researchers
If you are verifying a video for a story or a study, Retrace is free for that work. Write to info@retrace.video and tell us what you are working on. Questions about the method, or about a figure on this page, go to the same address.