YouTube generated more than US$60 billion in revenue in 2025 from advertising and subscriptions, marking the first time its parent company Alphabet has disclosed the platform’s total earnings in detail. This figure places YouTube well ahead of subscription-based streaming leader Netflix, which reported full-year 2025 revenue of US$45.18 billion. In fact, YouTube’s revenue surpassed that of nearly all entertainment companies except Disney, which recorded US$95.7 billion in calendar-year revenue.

As reported by Variety, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the company now has more than 325 million paying subscribers across its consumer services, including YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, and Google One. Meanwhile, YouTube posted its highest-ever advertising sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, although the results fell short of Wall Street expectations.

During the final three months of 2025, YouTube’s global advertising revenue reached US$11.38 billion, representing an 8.7% year-over-year increase, according to Alphabet’s financial report. By comparison, StreetAccount data showed that Wall Street analysts had projected ad revenue of US$11.84 billion.

On the brand advertising front, political ad spending on YouTube declined in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2024. Pichai also noted that the NFL recorded its highest-ever number of out-of-market paid subscribers for the Sunday Ticket package offered through YouTube during the most recent season.

In October 2025, viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts on YouTube via television screens, up roughly 70% from the previous year. Overall, Alphabet posted fourth-quarter revenue of US$113.8 billion, an 18% increase, alongside net income of US$34.5 billion, up 30%, with earnings per share (EPS) reaching US$2.82. These results exceeded consensus analyst forecasts of US$111.43 billion in revenue and EPS of US$2.63.

Alphabet attributed its broad-based revenue growth to continued investment in artificial intelligence and supporting infrastructure. Pichai said that to meet customer demand and capitalize on future opportunities, the company expects capital expenditures of between US$175 billion and US$185 billion in 2026, nearly double its 2025 capital spending of US$91.4 billion.

Separately, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, in his 2026 community letter outlining the platform’s priorities, praised upcoming AI tools for creators and revealed that more than one million channels were using YouTube’s AI features daily as of December 2025.

At the same time, the rapid expansion of AI has raised concerns about low-quality content. Mohan said YouTube is actively working to limit the spread of repetitive and substandard AI-generated material. He also noted that YouTube Shorts now averages 200 billion views per day.

This year, YouTube plans to integrate additional content formats, including image posts, directly into the Shorts feed. In addition, YouTube TV will soon roll out a fully customizable multiview feature that allows users to watch multiple live channels on a single screen, along with the launch of at least 10 lower-cost, genre-specific YouTube TV packages covering sports, entertainment, and news.