YouTube

For the company's channel on YouTube, see YouTube (YouTube channel).

YouTube
Logo used since 2024
YouTube search results
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Online video platform
FoundedFebruary 14, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-02-14)
Headquarters901 Cherry Avenue
San Bruno, California,
United States
Area servedWorldwide (excluding blocked countries)
OwnerGoogle LLC
Founder(s)
Key people
Industry
Products
RevenueIncrease US$31.5 billion (2023)[1]
ParentGoogle LLC (2006–present)
URLyoutube.com
(see list of localized domain names)
AdvertisingGoogle AdSense
Registration
Optional
  • Not required to watch most videos; required for certain tasks such as uploading videos, viewing flagged (18+) videos, creating playlists, liking or disliking videos, and posting comments
UsersDecrease 2.7 billion MAU (January 2024)[2]
LaunchedDecember 15, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-12-15)
Current statusActive
Content license
Uploader holds copyright (standard license); Creative Commons can be selected.
Written inPython (core/API),[3] C (through CPython), C++, Java (through Guice platform),[4][5] Go,[6] JavaScript (UI)

YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States, it is the second-most visited website in the world, after Google Search. In January 2024, YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users, who collectively watched more than one billion hours of videos every day.[7] As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute,[8][9] and as of 2023, there were approximately 14 billion videos in total.[10]

On the 9th of October 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion (equivalent to $2.31 billion in 2023).[11] Google expanded YouTube's business model of generating revenue from advertisements alone, to offering paid content such as movies and exclusive content produced by and for YouTube. It also offers YouTube Premium, a paid subscription option for watching content without ads. YouTube incorporated Google's AdSense program, generating more revenue for both YouTube and approved content creators. In 2023, YouTube's advertising revenue totaled $31.7 billion, a 2% increase from the $31.1 billion reported in 2022.[12] From Q4 2023 to Q3 2024, YouTube's combined revenue from advertising and subscriptions exceeded $50 billion.[13]

Since its purchase by Google, YouTube has expanded beyond the core website into mobile apps, network television, and the ability to link with other platforms. Video categories on YouTube include music videos, video clips, news, short and feature films, songs, documentaries, movie trailers, teasers, TV spots, live streams, vlogs, and more. Most content is generated by individuals, including collaborations between "YouTubers" and corporate sponsors. Established media, news, and entertainment corporations have also created and expanded their visibility to YouTube channels in order to reach greater audiences.

YouTube has had unprecedented social impact, influencing popular culture, internet trends, and creating multimillionaire celebrities. Despite its growth and success, the platform has been criticized for its facilitation of the spread of misinformation and copyrighted content, routinely violating its users' privacy, excessive censorship, endangering the safety of children and their well-being, and for its inconsistent implementation of platform guidelines.

  1. ^ Weprin, Alex (February 1, 2022). "YouTube Ad Revenue Tops $8.6B, Beating Netflix in the Quarter". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  2. ^ "Top Social Media Statistics And Trends Of 2023 – Forbes Advisor". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  3. ^ Claburn, Thomas (January 5, 2017). "Google's Grumpy code makes Python Go". The Register. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Wilson, Jesse (May 19, 2009). "Guice Deuce". Official Google Code Blog. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  5. ^ "YouTube Architecture". High Scalability. Archived from the original on October 4, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  6. ^ "Golang Vitess: a database wrapper written in Go as used by Youtube". GitHub. October 23, 2018. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Goodrow, Cristos (February 27, 2017). "You know what's cool? A billion hours". Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Loke Hale, James (May 7, 2019). "More Than 500 Hours Of Content Are Now Being Uploaded To YouTube Every Minute". TubeFilter. Los Angeles, CA. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Neufeld, Dorothy (January 27, 2021). "The 50 Most Visited Websites in the World". Visual Capitalist. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  10. ^ McGrady, Ryan (January 26, 2024). "What We Discovered on 'Deep YouTube'". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  11. ^ Hooker, Lucy (February 1, 2016). "How did Google become the world's most valuable company?". BBC News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  12. ^ "Alphabet Q1 2024 Earnings Release" (PDF). Alphabet Investor Relations. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  13. ^ "Google CFO Discusses YouTube's Advertising and Subscription Revenue". Business Insider. Retrieved November 1, 2024.