Alphabet-owned YouTube’s subscription and advertising revenues are trending upward. The company said Wednesday it now has 325 million paying users on Google One and YouTube Premium, up from 300 million three months ago.
YouTube reported fourth-quarter advertising revenue rose 9% to $11.38 billion, but missed analysts’ average estimate of $11.84 billion. YouTube’s revenue, including advertising and subscriptions, totaled $60 billion for the full fiscal year, up 17% from a year earlier.
The company said that YouTube $8 per month, ad-free premium tier Strong grip is being seen, but no numbers were specified. It added that YouTube Premium also saw strong growth.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company plans to expand its subscription offerings, particularly to capitalize on its growing YouTube TV userbase. “We will soon launch new YouTube TV plans, bringing more choice and flexibility to customers with over 10 genre-specific packages,” he said.
The company said YouTube Shorts recorded 200 billion average daily views in the quarter, which is about the same as last year, but in some countries, ads on short-form videos earn more than in-stream ads on an hourly basis. Pichai also highlighted podcasts as a growing format, with audiences watching 700 million hours of podcasts on their TVs in October.
YouTube said its AI features are seeing momentum and more than 1 million channels are using them AI creation tool. The company said 20 million consumers used its Gemini-powered content discovery tool in December.
