YouTube’s subscription and advertising revenue continues to grow. The company announced it now has 325 million paying users across Google One and YouTube Premium, an increase from 300 million just three months ago.
In the fourth quarter, YouTube’s ad revenue rose 9% to $11.38 billion, though this figure fell short of analysts’ average estimate of $11.84 billion. For the full financial year, YouTube’s overall revenue, combining ads and subscriptions, reached $60 billion, marking a 17% increase from the previous year.
The company reported strong traction for its $8 per month, ad-free Premium tier, as well as strong growth for YouTube Premium overall, though specific numbers were not provided.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated the company intends to expand its subscription offerings, particularly to leverage the growing YouTube TV userbase. He announced plans to soon launch new YouTube TV plans, offering over 10 genre-specific packages for more choice and flexibility.
YouTube Shorts maintained 200 billion average daily views in the quarter, consistent with last year. The company noted that in some countries, ads on short-form video now earn more than in-stream ads on a per-hour basis. Pichai also highlighted the growth of podcasts, revealing that viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts from their TVs in October alone.
YouTube’s AI features are gaining momentum, with more than 1 million channels now using its AI creation tools. Additionally, the company reported that 20 million consumers used its Gemini-powered content discovery tool in December.