Sophie Blake
What is YouTube?
YouTube is an online video sharing platform that allows global users to watch, share and upload videos with the mission of freedom of speech and freedom of information. Used by billions of users worldwide, YouTube is one of the most popular music and video streaming platforms available in Google Play and App Store along with the Web.
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube is a free video sharing platform where users can consume its content just by watching ads without a paid subscription. YouTube Premium (formerly known as YouTube Red) is YouTube’s paid subscription where users are allowed to listen and watch ad-free videos. It also enables users to consume the content “in the background” meaning users don’t have to keep the app open to listen to videos. YouTube Premium users can download the data for offline usage.
Users can also prefer the YouTube Music Premium package for downloading and listening music within the app without ad interruption. It is also allowed to play the music in the background while using other apps or when the screen is off.
For the parents, YouTube offers a YouTube Kids package where kids are provided with a more contained environment to explore YouTube.
There is also a family plan that allows adding up to 5 family members (ages 13+) with all premium package features.
What is a private video on YouTube?
A private video is an invite-only video where the video owner limits and controls who will watch the video. Video owners should share the URL with the invitees in order to let them watch the video. It is an option available to everyone under “Visibility” while uploading a video to decide if a video will be private or public. Private videos on Youtube are not displayed on the YouTube homepage and they are not listed in the search results.
YouTube – Company Overview
In 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion.
| Headquarter | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Number of Employees | 5000+ |
| Website | https://www.youtube.com/ |
| Founded Date | 2005 |
| Founders | Chad Hurley, Eric Skaggs, Martin Pauer, Steve Chen |
| Crunchbase Profile | Profile Link |
| Google Play | App Store Link |
| Apple App Store | App Store Link |
YouTube Revenue Statistics (2024)
- YouTube ad revenue for Q4 2024 was $8.92 billion, up 12% year-over-year. For the first time in its history, YouTube’s total revenue—including advertising, subscriptions like YouTube Premium, and NFL Sunday Ticket—has surpassed the $50 billion mark over the past year.
- In 2023, YouTube’s annual ad revenue increased to $31.5 billion from $29.2 billion the year before.
| Quarter | YouTube Ad Revenue |
| Q3 2024 | $8.92 billion |
| Q2 2024 | $8.66 billion |
| Q1 2024 | $8.09 billion |
| Q4 2023 | $9.2 billion |
| Q3 2023 | $7.95 billion |
| Q2 2023 | $7.66 billion |
| Q1 2023 | $6.69 billion |
| Q4 2022 | $7.96 billion |
| Q3 2022 | $7.07 billion |
| Q2 2022 | $7.34 billion |
| Q1 2022 | $6.87 billion |
| Q4 2021 | $8.63 billion |
| Q3 2021 | $7.20 billion |
| Q2 2021 | $7.00 billion |
| Q1 2021 | $6.00 billion |
| Q4 2020 | $6.88 billion |
| Q3 2020 | $5.03 billion |
| Q2 2020 | $3.82 billion |
| Q1 2020 | $4.03 billion |
| Q4 2019 | $4.71 billion |
| Q3 2019 | $3.80 billion |
| Q2 2019 | $3.60 billion |
| Q1 2019 | $3.02 billion |
| Q4 2018 | $3.65 billion |
- In 2022, YouTube generated $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the top subscription app for 2022 by worldwide consumer spending across the app stores. The app generated $566.5 million in the United States. (Sensor Tower)
YouTube User & Usage Stats
- In the latest update shared in February 1, 2024, Google announced that the combined paid user base of YouTube Music and YouTube Premium has surpassed 100 million users. This noteworthy achievement reflects a significant increase from the 80 million paid users reported by the company in November 2022.
- According to Alphabet, YouTube continues to boast more than 2 billion monthly logged-in users, who watch more than 1 billion hours of video daily.
- As of the first quarter of 2023, YouTube Shorts generates 50 billion views daily.
- Each month, 1.5 billion people visit YouTube (Think with Google)
- YouTube Music app was downloaded 4.94 million times on Google Play in September 2022. It was among the biggest music and audio apps worldwide.
- YouTube Music app was downloaded 1.1+ million times on the App Store in September 2022. (Statista)
- Each visitor spends 11 minutes 24 seconds on average per day on YouTube. (Hootsuite)
- 92.8% of video watchers in India are watching YouTube. (eMarketer)
- In March 2022, QIYI’s fantasy action film Double World broke a record for being the fastest viral music video on YouTube with 400 million views within 24 hours.
- During the fourth quarter of 2022, a total of approximately 5.66 million videos were removed from YouTube. (Statista)
- YouTube is localized in over 100 countries and 80 languages.
- More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices. (YouTube)
YouTube Channel Stats
As of February 2023, T-Series had reached almost 217.25 billion lifetime video views, making the most-viewed YouTube channel owner of all time. This was followed by Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes whose channel was viewed 153.31 billion times.
The number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube grew more than 40% year-over-year. (YouTube)
Who has the most subscribers on YouTube? (2023)
With more than 237 million subscribers, T-Series was the most popular YouTube channel as of February 2023. YouTube Movies follows it with 163 million subscribers.
YouTube Music vs Spotify (Stats)
- In September 2022, Spotify was the most-downloaded music and audio app in the Google Play Store worldwide, while YouTube Music ranked #3 with 4.94 million app installs.
- In September 2022, where YouTube Music generated 1.1 million app downloads, Spotify was the most-downloaded music app for iPhone in the Apple App Store worldwide with 3.28 million downloads.
- In Q3 2022, Spotify ad-supported revenue was €385 million, while YouTube ad revenue was $7.07 billion for the same period.
What is the most viewed video on YouTube (2023)
As of February 2023, the most viewed video on Youtube is Baby Shark with 12.3 billion views. It is followed by “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi with 8.1 billion views.
What is the most disliked video on YouTube (2023)
YouTube Rewind 2018, one of YouTube’s own videos, is the most disliked video on YouTube with 19 million dislikes as of 2023. ‘Sadak 2’ trailer is the second most disliked video on YouTube with 13 million dislikes.
