TLDR: I have no idea. I do have some theories.
I have videos on my Etsy product listings and I would like to think it helps the potential customers decide if they like the candle or not. Perhaps it gives them a ‘3D’ look of the candle. I would like to think from a sellers perspective, it also provides some version of imperfection that you may not have noticed in the photos, a more realistic view if you will.
For this website (junecandleco.com), I place them by the description beneath the ‘fold’ because well, I tried putting it with the videos but I really just didn’t like the aesthetics of it. Based on Youtube stats, they don’t get played very much.
Unfortunately I can’t see the stats of how many video views on Etsy so it’s really hard to know if it’s really preferable. Etsy says it’s a good idea so I’ve been trying to include as many videos as I can on all my products. I even started doing it for the pins even though the pins leave very little for imagination on the pictures in my opinion!
I also don’t really see an increase in SEO on both Etsy and the website so I’m not sure if it really affects the search algorithm. Maybe it’s really meant for user experience than increasing search effectiveness.
Conclusion from my very limited dataset: If you want to show off your product, a video is useful but not always necessary. If your product is self explanatory or you already have great photos, the video might just be super extra.
