YouTube’s Ad revenue hits record $10.47B in Q4, surpassing expectations
Mumbai: YouTube reported a record-breaking $10.47 billion in advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, reflecting a 13.8% year-over-year increase and exceeding analyst projections of $10.23 billion.
The strong performance was highlighted in Alphabet’s latest earnings call, where CEO Sundar Pichai credited AI advancements for driving engagement and boosting ad sales. “Q4 was a strong quarter driven by our leadership in AI and momentum across the business,” Pichai stated, emphasizing how AI has enhanced video recommendations, ad targeting, and content discovery, making the platform more attractive to both users and advertisers.
Notably, this record revenue figure excludes income from YouTube’s subscription services such as YouTube TV and YouTube Premium, underlining the strength of its core ad business.
For the full year 2024, YouTube generated $36.15 billion in ad revenue, reinforcing its pivotal role in Alphabet’s overall financial performance. The parent company reported $96.5 billion in total Q4 revenue, marking a 12% year-over-year increase, though slightly missing analyst expectations of $96.67 billion. However, Alphabet exceeded earnings estimates, posting a net income of $26.54 billion ($2.15 per share), surpassing the expected $2.13 EPS.
Google Services, encompassing Search and YouTube advertising, recorded $84.1 billion in revenue for the quarter, reflecting a 10% annual growth, while total advertising revenue reached $72.5 billion.
Looking ahead, Alphabet plans to increase capital expenditures to $75 billion in 2025, fueled by the intensifying AI race among tech giants.