Google reveals YouTube ad revenue for the first time

The company made 15 billion dollars from YouTube ads, the company has revealed. That number is nearly ten per cent of the parent company, Alphabet’s total revenue.

Interestingly, the numbers have grown rapidly since as far back as 2017, showing just how successful YouTube’s business model is.

“I’m really pleased with our continued progress in Search and in building two of our newer growth areas — YouTube, already at $15 billion in annual ad revenue, and Cloud, which is now on a $10 billion revenue run rate,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement.

The platform’s revenue in 2017 was 8.1 billion dollars. The numbers grew to 11.1 billion dollars in 2018 and have now reached a staggering 15 billion dollars.

Until now, the tech company has always declined calls to make its ad revenue public, and many in the tech industry have found it to be a cause of speculation.

This new release of the figures, however, comes as Google is facing similar issues like Facebook, for its inability to regulate its video platform for disinformation and other unsavoury content.

Also, like Facebook, Google is also facing an anti-trust investigation.