How Medium counts views?! Just a guess, Google counts page views, and Medium counts article views. Looks very similar, but an article count also happens within the Medium app not just in the browser.

Maybe that’s the difference? The medium App might be seen as more trustful than a website, and the app might be work like an aggregator itself?

Could it be?

My way into an article is very often via the newsletter (~75%) directly into the app.

If you direct your content away from the Medium app, it could explain a drop.