Maximization and video

Save progress and the progress bar

Save progress lets visitors pick up where they left off. The fake progress bar shapes how much of the video feels left.

4 min read

Both options live in Advanced settings, in the Extras group. To get there: in your video library, click the video, go to the Settings tab and, in the AI Maximization card, open Advanced settings.

Save progress

With Save progress on, the player remembers how far each visitor watched. It's stored in the visitor's own browser, so it works on the same device and the same browser.

Also turn on Show "continue watching" screen so that returning visitors see a screen where they choose between continuing or starting over. On that screen you edit the Title, the Continue button and the Restart button. It's off in the default player.

When the player offers to resume

  • Nothing is offered with less than 15 seconds watched.
  • Nothing is offered in the last 20 seconds of the video.
  • Reaching the end of the video clears the saved progress.
  • Choosing to restart also clears it, so the next visit doesn't offer a spot the person already turned down.

In private browsing or with storage blocked, the browser can't save the spot, and the video simply starts from the beginning.

Fake progress bar

The Fake progress bar doesn't show the video's real position. It moves at a different pace and always reaches 100% right at the end. It's a classic VSL technique: on long videos, the real bar makes it obvious how much is left and some people drop off.

Turning on the fake bar hides the real one, since the two together contradict each other. Use Bar height to set its thickness. It's already on in the default VSL Max player.

Bar pacing

  • Slow down: halfway through the video, the bar shows 67%. People feel they've made progress and keep watching. This is the default.
  • Speed up: halfway through the video, the bar shows 33%. It hides how much is still left.

Under Where the pacing changes, pick the point in the video where the bar switches pace. The default is the halfway mark.

Both settings and the AI

Progress bar and Save progress are among the settings AI Maximization can test. With the AI on for them, the fields are locked. To edit them yourself, turn off the AI maximization switch inside each one.

Common issues

  • The continue screen doesn't show up. Check that both options are on and that the previous visit went past 15 seconds and stopped before the last 20 seconds.
  • Pixel events don't match the bar. That's expected: events use actual watch time. See tracking pixel.

More in this section