YouTube, the Google-owned video streaming giant, has reported a record-breaking $10.5 billion in advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a significant increase from the $9.2 billion recorded in the same period the previous year.
This milestone also marks the first time YouTube has surpassed $10 billion in ad revenue within a single quarter.
The platform continues to dominate the ad-supported streaming market, with the latest Nielsen Gauge report indicating that YouTube accounted for more than 11% of all video viewership.
Google’s Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, attributed the surge in revenue to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which saw a significant increase in political ad spending.
“YouTube advertising revenues were driven by strong spend on U.S. election advertising, with combined spend from both parties almost doubling compared to the 2020 elections,” Schindler told Wall Street analysts.
Schindler also highlighted the growing trend of creators focusing on high-quality viewing experiences optimized for TV screens, leading to increased audience engagement.
“The number of creators generating the majority of their revenue from TV is up over 30% year-over-year,” he added.
Additionally, YouTube has strengthened its investment in podcasts, with popular shows such as Club Shay Shay and The Lex Fridman Podcast increasingly adopting a visual format. According to Schindler, YouTube users watched over 400 million hours of podcasts per month on living room devices alone in 2024, making the platform the most popular service for podcast listening in the U.S.
Beyond advertising, Google’s broader subscriptions, platforms, and devices business, which includes YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, and YouTube Premium, saw revenues climb to $11.6 billion, up from $10.8 billion a year ago.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported total revenues of $96.5 billion for the quarter, with a net income of $26.5 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted the company’s commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing as key drivers of growth.
“Q4 was a strong quarter driven by our leadership in AI and momentum across the business,” Pichai stated. “We are building, testing, and launching products and models faster than ever, making significant progress in compute and driving efficiencies. Advances like AI Overviews and Circle to Search are increasing user engagement in Search.”
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Pichai also noted the strong demand for Google Cloud’s AI-powered services and YouTube’s continued dominance in streaming and podcasts. He revealed that, together, Cloud and YouTube exited 2024 with an annual revenue run rate of $110 billion.
Looking ahead, Alphabet plans to make substantial capital investments in 2025. “To accelerate our progress, we expect to invest approximately $75 billion in capital expenditures,” Pichai added.
With YouTube’s continued expansion into TV and podcasting, coupled with Alphabet’s aggressive AI and cloud initiatives, the company is positioning itself for sustained growth in the digital economy.
