For the first time ever, Google’s parent company Alphabet has publicly shared YouTube advertising revenue results. The information was included in earning reports for the 2019 financial year. Alphabet revealed that YouTube earned just over $15 billion dollars in ad revenue in 2019.
Reported by Variety, YouTube’s yearly revenue has nearly doubled since 2017 and increased 36% from 2018. Alphabet reported that YouTube earned $11.6 billion in 2018 and $8.15 billion in 2017.
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/16/pewdiepie-takes-a-break-from-youtube-ign-now”]
Further, YouTube’s 2019 financial report revealed that the video service earned $4.72 billion in Q4 2019, a 31% increase from the prior year.
Alphabet also shared financial reports for Google Search and Google Cloud, which earned $27.19 billion and $2.61 billion respectively in Q4 2019. Overall revenue for all Alphabet companies in Q4 2019 came in at an impressive $46.08 billion, falling short of Wall Street’s expected $46.9 billion.
“I’m really pleased with our continued progress in Search and in building two of our newer growth areas,” said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “YouTube, already at $15 billion in annual ad revenue, and Cloud, which is now on a $10 billion revenue run rate.”
YouTube’s tremendous growth is likely due, in part, to the recent popularity of streaming and esports. In late January, Activision Blizzard announced that all of its esports broadcasts would air exclusively on YouTube. This means that some of the biggest competitive matchups for games, like Overwatch and Call of Duty, can only be streamed on YouTube.
Are you surprised YouTube earned so much in 2019? Let us know in the comments below.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.
Source: IGN.com YouTube Earned Billion in 2019