YouTube rakes in record $10.4 billion from ads even as users grumble about aggressive strategy

[Skye Jacobs]

In a nutshell: YouTube achieved record-breaking ad revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, raking in a staggering $10.4 billion from advertisements alone. This astronomical figure, representing a 13.8 percent increase from the previous year, comes amid mounting user dissatisfaction with the platform's aggressive ad strategy.

YouTube's advertising model has long been a source of frustration for its vast user base. The platform's approach to monetization, which often involves interrupting videos with unskippable ads, is seen by many as intrusive and detrimental to the viewing experience.

Despite the discontent, the numbers tell a different story. The platform's ability to generate revenue seems unaffected by user grumbling. That is largely due to its vast content library, much of which is unique to the platform, and thus the lack of comparable alternatives. This captive audience provides a steady stream of ad viewers, even if they are reluctant ones.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai attributed much of the revenue jump to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Combined spending on YouTube ads by the Democratic and Republican parties was almost double what they spent in the 2020 election, he said. This political advertising bonanza contributed significantly to YouTube's coffers, with over 45 million people watching election-related content on the platform on election day alone.

Source: App Economy Insights

YouTube offers an escape from its ad-laden experience through its Premium subscription service, priced at $14 per month or $140 per year. However, many users balk at the cost, viewing it as an expensive solution to a problem of YouTube's own making.

Despite user reluctance, YouTube's subscription revenues – bundled under Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices in its earnings statement – increased from $10.8 billion in Q4 2023 to $11.6 billion in Q4 2024. According to Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet's CFO, subscription products are growing primarily due to increased paid subscribers across YouTube TV, YouTube Music Premium, and Google One.

Now, YouTube is betting big on AI to turbocharge its advertising strategies. Philipp Schindler, chief business officer at Alphabet, highlighted the potential of AI in marketing, citing a case study where Petco utilized AI-powered campaigns on YouTube. The company achieved a 275 percent higher return on ad spend and a 74 percent higher click-through rate than its social benchmarks, Schindler reported.

He also noted that Google AI-powered video campaigns on YouTube deliver a 17 percent higher return on advertising spend than manual campaigns, according to Nielsen analysis.

While this may be music to advertisers' ears, for users, it could mean even more precisely targeted – and potentially more irritating – ad experiences in the future.

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YouTube rakes in record $10.4 billion from ads even as users grumble about aggressive strategy

 

[The Talking Tech]

Especially since YouTube targets you with political videos based on your affiliation.

I once by mistake clicked on one of those Fox News political misinformation videos and that was enough for YouTube to start bombarding me with all sorts of ignorant MAGA/Republican clips.

 

[NumberNine]

YouTube works best these days as a source for content to be scraped and loaded into a completely separate self-hosted media repository. Failing that, browser plugins can ensure you never have to deal with this nonsense.

YouTube used to be free until Google inserted themselves and their ads directly into the middle of it so... build a middle man to deal with the middle man.

 

[Dr Roboto]

The technological state of the art in the world today: using AI to shove even more unwanted advertisement down our throats. The enshitification continues. <sigh>

Has the world really come to this? It is not about technical marvels to change the world for the betterment of mankind. The biggest companies now just make billions of dollars selling "ads". Ads that no one even wants and that most people just ignore. I don't get it.

 

[AnilD]

Great, now AI is going to learn that I watched one cat video and bombard me with pet food ads for the next six months. At this point, YouTube ads know me better than my own family.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they start making the pause button a Premium feature soon.

 

[dangh]

It is crazy we don't have any alternative for this one...

 

[kiwigraeme]

Especially since YouTube targets you with political videos based on your affiliation.

I once by mistake clicked on one of those Fox News political misinformation videos and that was enough for YouTube to start bombarding me with all sorts of ignorant MAGA/Republican clips.

It's kind of thing it's a good thing for all the AI it's so stupid. yeah click on something like that , or say innocuous enough title about men, women competing and suddenly get hit with men so superio , women are just not as good junk by fragile men who need endless ego boosting vids.
Can't believe I get so many spam the 5 best blahs blahs of 2024. Anything that starts with 5 best is spam google.
I will also once every month or two look at some conservative site on say reddit , but reddit seems smarter and tracks most interested things better- what's weird about conservative sites is how much mindless dogma , handmaiden tale it is and people complimenting each other on how free thinking and tolerant they are to free speech . NZ main reddit is more lefty, don't even look at that much, but least someone might try and show scientific research for a position. Suppose people need a voice to say how downtrodden , victimised they are left or right, but havenot's do seem to have more reason to complain

 

[Axeia]

I uhmm employ means on the desktop not to see any ads on YouTube. On other devices I simply don't use it at all because there's too darn many ads.
More
Some people must be really easy to influence with the amount of money being sunk into ads. I do wonder if AI can make them useful because as things are usually the only ads I notice are for the thing I just bought, completely useless. Hopefully it's better than their video recommendation algorithm because that keeps trying to shovel far right videos down my throat. I'd like to see both sides of the fence, not just one.

 

[AlexIL]

YouTube record ads revenue? Really?
Then why they racked up prices for their subscribers worldwide?

It’s a report for investors and it’s real as a snow in July.

 

[scoffer]

YouTube works best these days as a source for content to be scraped and loaded into a completely separate self-hosted media repository. Failing that, browser plugins can ensure you never have to deal with this nonsense.

YouTube used to be free until Google inserted themselves and their ads directly into the middle of it so... build a middle man to deal with the middle man.

Totally agree .100%
Brave Browser with adequate adblockers gives an excellent opportunity to do exactly as suggested here.

 

[scoffer]

YouTube record ads revenue? Really?
Then why they racked up prices for their subscribers worldwide?

It’s a report for investors and it’s real as a snow in July.

Because they are greedy f*****s. No amount of profit is good enough for these excuses for human beings.

 

[toooooot]

Here is a tip for making even more next year: a 5 bucks no ad subscription.
I am still not fully aware what other services it offers beside people created content.
And I do not care for other features. Why would I pay for them?
Add no ad subscription.

 

[Underdog]

It is crazy we don't have any alternative for this one...

It would only be a matter of time before the new kid on the block would start chasing Youtube's income stream down the same old rabbit hole.
Sing along, people........"Money makes the world go 'round, world go 'round, money makes the world go 'round...........etc".

 

[ScottSoapbox]

People can complain about ads all they want, the only thing that will reduce ad growth is watching less YT.

Execs don't care that you are unhappy as you consume endless hours of their attention-grabbing ad-serving system.

 

[MasterMace]

Layer your adblockers.

 

[VariableSpike]

Google's whole product is, and always will be advertising, no matter what else they may provide, youtube is judt a means to and end, just a shame we don't have an alternative (bar livestreaming, but twitch isn't any better)

 

[Megalomaniac]

As a Youtubber...

I'm disgusted by their practices.
They may show more ad revenue from their big billionaire payers, but they won't talk about the ad revenue lost in payments to Youtubbers.
The Youtubbers who made Youtube what it is no longer want to work for the platform but are afraid to simply stop or just walk away because of their residuals /royalties.

Youtube throttles channels, demonetizes whoever it doesn't like and even throttles views.

You have huge channels with "almost" 2 million subs suddenly get paused.

You have huge channels with millions of subs suddenly only getting a few thousand views per video.

Youtube pushes who they want to push and ignore better channels while Google throttles and herds searches to Youtube videos that it wants to promote.

Notification is over and my favorite youtubers post videos I don't find out about till days later.

I REFUSE to subscribe to Youtube or pay them any money at all.

For now: I collect reduced ad revenue that I roll into the stock market and use Youtube merely as a 1099 tax strategy.

 

[FF222]

The biggest companies now just make billions of dollars selling "ads". Ads that no one even wants and that most people just ignore. I don't get it.

People might tell themselves that they ignore ads, but in reality they don't and can't. Ads work. They just don't work in the way most people think. If ads wouldn't work, for profit companies wouldn't spend money on them.

Also everybody is selling ads because people do not want to pay for services and content with actual money, so, they force sites to cover their costs some other way. And ads happen to be a perfect way to do that, because of how well it scales and how there's a very large market for it.

Start paying for services and to websites you use, and ads will go away. Also pick and chose which sites you visit based on how much and what kind of ads they show (instead of trying to blocking all ads on all sites), and you'll get less ads and better ads in the long term!

Keep trying to block ads, and either you'll drive all the sites/services you're using out of business, or force them to invent new ways to push unblockable and non-obvious ads onto you, or monetize you otherwise!

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

There's only one ad that bugs me on YouTube, which is the one with a man asking the viewer to sign a petition because of what happened at Sandy Hook over 10 years ago. The way the ad is delivered just sounds pathetic and so unmasculine though because he's literally begging and every ad is just like this.

 

[ruid84]

Especially since YouTube targets you with political videos based on your affiliation.

I once by mistake clicked on one of those Fox News political misinformation videos and that was enough for YouTube to start bombarding me with all sorts of ignorant MAGA/Republican clips.

How YT can possibly know that it was by mistake? Moreover, it's only natural to receive suggestions of the same subject but from different sources. So if you already watch political content, how YT can know that you want to hear only one side of the story? You did it to yourself. Just don't click anymore and the algorithm will adjust. I don't understand what is the complaint.

 

[okie11]

I haven't seen an ad on youtube in years, been using multiple adblockers and will continue to do so.

 

[MaestroIT]

Si the 10B Is not enough and they seek more income by injecting more ads and trying to block and ban ad blockers

 

[Northy]

Youtube is herding Firefox users to Chrome telling them to get a "modern browser" so their site will work. Meanwhile ad blockers are working fine on Chromium offshoots like Opera.