--mark-watched doesn't appear to work

[waylon531]

Make sure you are using the latest version: run youtube-dl --version and ensure your version is 2016.12.18. If it's not read this FAQ entry and update. Issues with outdated version will be rejected.

• I've verified and I assure that I'm running youtube-dl 2016.12.18

Before submitting an issue make sure you have:

• At least skimmed through README and most notably FAQ and BUGS sections
• Searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones

What is the purpose of your issue?

• Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl)
• Site support request (request for adding support for a new site)
• Feature request (request for a new functionality)
• Question
• Other

If the purpose of this issue is a bug report, site support request or you are not completely sure provide the full verbose output as follows:

Add -v flag to your command line you run youtube-dl with, copy the whole output and insert it here. It should look similar to one below (replace it with your log inserted between triple ```):

$ youtube-dl -u PRIVATE --mark-watched "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p73JSsQcBpk" --verbose
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Command-line args: ['-u', 'PRIVATE', '--mark-watched', 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p73JSsQcBpk', '--verbose', '--include-ads']
Type account password and press [Return]: 
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs utf-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2016.12.18
[debug] Python version 3.5.2 - Linux-4.9.0-rc8-gd9d0452-x86_64-with-arch
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 3.2.2, ffprobe 3.2.2, rtmpdump 2.4
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[youtube] Downloading login page
[youtube] Logging in
[youtube] p73JSsQcBpk: Downloading webpage
[youtube] p73JSsQcBpk: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] p73JSsQcBpk: Extracting video information
[youtube] p73JSsQcBpk: Downloading MPD manifest
[youtube] p73JSsQcBpk: Marking watched
WARNING: Requested formats are incompatible for merge and will be merged into mkv.
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://r13---sn-nx57yn7r.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=a7bdc94ac41c0699&itag=137&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&nh=IgpwcjAyLnNlYTAzKgkxMjcuMC4wLjE&pl=16&initcwndbps=1762500&mn=sn-nx57yn7r&mm=31&ms=au&mv=m&ratebypass=yes&mime=video/mp4&gir=yes&clen=495317317&lmt=1481918560009484&dur=1139.399&key=dg_yt0&signature=47F482718E7F8EE196F8C3D80B6FEBD284F0A194.5021EE4C586C47D06B376B573351AC24E5BA464D&upn=FfTA_U0IztM&mt=1482218214&ip=131.252.92.245&ipbits=0&expire=1482239923&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,source,requiressl,nh,pl,initcwndbps,mn,mm,ms,mv,ratebypass,mime,gir,clen,lmt,dur'
[download] Destination: Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f137.mp4
[download] 100% of 472.37MiB in 00:42
[debug] Invoking downloader on 'https://r13---sn-nx57yn7r.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=a7bdc94ac41c0699&itag=251&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&nh=IgpwcjAyLnNlYTAzKgkxMjcuMC4wLjE&pl=16&initcwndbps=1762500&mn=sn-nx57yn7r&mm=31&ms=au&mv=m&ratebypass=yes&mime=audio/webm&gir=yes&clen=18049593&lmt=1482042329849442&dur=1139.401&key=dg_yt0&signature=45DA5608DB2E11257EE414D6A3F229342422372C.9BA0D7FA860E59DCE4AD2B4A7A6E7B3345760A97&upn=FfTA_U0IztM&mt=1482218214&ip=131.252.92.245&ipbits=0&expire=1482239923&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,source,requiressl,nh,pl,initcwndbps,mn,mm,ms,mv,ratebypass,mime,gir,clen,lmt,dur'
[download] Destination: Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f251.webm
[download] 100% of 17.21MiB in 00:01
[ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.mkv"
[debug] ffmpeg command line: ffmpeg -y -i 'file:Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f137.mp4' -i 'file:Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f251.webm' -c copy -map 0:v:0 -map 1:a:0 'file:Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.temp.mkv'
Deleting original file Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f137.mp4 (pass -k to keep)
Deleting original file Stream Highlights - Resident Evil 6 - Ep 1-p73JSsQcBpk.f251.webm (pass -k to keep)

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Description of your issue, suggested solution and other information

I've been using youtube-dl through mpv to watch youtube videos for a few months now. However, I realized my views weren't contributing to the view count for videos I watch. I tried to get this to work by creating a new youtube account specifically for use with youtube and using the --mark-watched option. However, when I download a video it does not appear in the history of my account and the view counter of the video does not increment. The --mark-watched option does not appear to be working.

[waylon531]

Apparently this is a youtube issue, I'm able to mark videos as watched with my gmail account but not with the new account I created.