YouTube continues to be the dominant player in ad-supported streaming, reporting Q4 advertising revenue of $10.5 billion, up from $9.2 billion a year ago, and surging past $10B in a quarter for the first time.
YouTube reported ad revenue of $8.9 billion in Q3.
The Google-owned video platform is by far the biggest player in ad-supported streaming video, and frankly streaming overall, with the latest Nielsen Gauge report showing that YouTube comprised more than 11 percent of all TV viewing.
According to Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler, the 2024 presidential election was a major driver in ad revenue.
“YouTube advertising revenues was driven by strong spend on US election advertising with combined spend from both parties almost doubling from what we saw in the 2020 elections,” Schindler told Wall Street analysts.
He also noted the platform’s success in attracting podcasters, many of whom publish video versions of their shows on YouTube.
“Creators are now prioritizing high quality viewing experiences that truly shine on TV screens, inspiring even more viewers to tune in. In fact, the number of creators making majority of revenue from TV is up over 30% year on year,” Schindler said. “We’ve also invested in podcasts where popular shows like Club Shay Shay and Lex Fridman are increasingly a visual format. YouTube creators and viewers are embracing this, in 2024 people watched over 400 million hours of podcasts each month on living room devices alone, YouTube is now the most popular service for podcasts listening in the U.S.”
Google’s subscriptions, platforms, and devices business, which includes YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube Premium among other offerings, had revenue of $11.6 billion, up from $10.8 billion a year ago.
At Alphabet overall, revenues were $96.5 billion, an the tech giant had net income of $26.5 billion, with CEO Sundar Pichai telling Wall Street that the company expects to spend an eye-watering $75 billion this year on capital expenditures.
“Q4 was a strong quarter driven by our leadership in AI and momentum across the business,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. “We are building, testing, and launching products and models faster than ever, and making significant progress in compute and driving efficiencies. In Search, advances like AI Overviews and Circle to Search are increasing user engagement. Our AI-powered Google Cloud portfolio is seeing stronger customer demand, and YouTube continues to be the leader in streaming watchtime and podcasts. Together, Cloud and YouTube exited 2024 at an annual revenue run rate of $110 billion. Our results show the power of our differentiated full-stack approach to AI innovation and the continued strength of our core businesses. We are confident about the opportunities ahead, and to accelerate our progress, we expect to invest approximately $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025.”