Summary
- YouTube made a record $36B from ads in 2024, $10B of which was in Q4 alone.
- YouTube is cracking down on ad blockers to boost revenue, podcasts are boosting viewership.
- YouTube is dominating TV with 11.1% market share.
YouTube has unveiled its advertising earnings for 2024, revealing that it made a stunning $36 billion USD. It was a record-breaking year for the company, and one that YouTube will surely want to repeat or surpass in 2025.
YouTube users may not be surprised by the fact that the platform had an incredible year for earnings. Ads on YouTube have become prominent, with some users complaining of longer, unskippable ads becoming more common, and the only legitimate way of avoiding them being to sign up for YouTube Premium. However, even with some users upgrading their accounts, the ads displayed by YouTube are still generating tons of money.
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According to YouTube parent company Alphabet’s latest earnings release (via Streamtvinsider), YouTube raked in a staggering $36.2 billion USD over the course of 2024, purely from ad sales. Of that $32 billion, $10.473 billion was generated between October to December alone, marking the first time that YouTube has earned more than $10 billion in a single quarter from advertising. Exact metrics for earnings from YouTube Premium subscriptions and YouTube TV weren’t included, meaning the company made additional profit on top of the huge ads number.
YouTube’s War on Ad Blockers Could Be Working
Given the new record set by YouTube’s fourth quarter, as well as its overall numbers produced, it seems like the company’s attempt to crack down on ad blockers may be having the intended effect. YouTube has been gradually chipping away at ad blockers, with users reporting in 2024 that they began to receive messages telling them that ad blockers violate the platform’s terms of service and must be disabled in order to continue watching videos. While some users are still hunting for workarounds, the easiest solution is to sign up for YouTube Premium.
YouTube has seen a huge increase in viewers over the years, with the video streaming service said to make up 11.1% of all TV viewing in December. YouTube has become the leading platform for podcasts in the United States, as well, further boosting its numbers. While platforms like TikTok and Instagram have managed to make a significant spot for themselves delivering short-form content, YouTube has little competition overall. Subscriber growth slowed for Netflix in the end of 2024, and Disney+ reported a loss of 700,000 subscribers in late 2024. With consumers seemingly experiencing some subscription fatigue, it will be interesting to see whether YouTube can deliver an even bigger earnings number in 2024 through free, ad-supported videos.