YouTube's worldwide advertising revenues amounted to 10.4 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 17 percent compared to the third quarter of 2024. YouTube is one of the biggest online video platforms worldwide, with the most popular YouTube channels having accumulated over 100 million subscribers.

In the first quarter of 2024, Mexico was the Latin American country that most generated revenue for the YouTube app, with around 27.1 million U.S. dollars across all app stores. Brazil ranked second, generating over 26 million U.S. dollars in IAP revenue. Despite a much smaller amount of downloads, Chile ranked third, each generating revenues of around 8.9 million U.S. dollars during the analyzed period.

During the second quarter of 2024, the United States represented YouTube's leading market, with quarterly revenues of 110.5 million U.S. dollars. Japan ranked second, generating 47.46 million U.S. dollars in revenues for the Alphabet-owned social and video platform. South Korea followed with 21 million U.S. dollars in revenues, representing approximately three percent of YouTube's quarterly app revenues.

In 2024, YouTube's global advertising revenues amounted to approximately 31.51 billion U.S. dollars, up by almost eight percent from the 29.2 billion U.S. dollars in the preceding fiscal period. Whereas the owned online video platform does not generate the same amount of revenue as Google's key segment Search, it is nonetheless a significant money-maker for parent company Alphabet.

In February 2024, YouTube counted approximately 100 million paid subscribers across its Music and Premium services. This represents an increase from the 50 million paying subscribers across the platform's services from September 2021. During the third quarter of 2023, YouTube generated almost eight billion U.S. dollars in advertising revenues.

In the fourth quarter of 2024 social company Meta's total revenue amounted to 46.8 billion U.S. dollars, the majority of which was generated through advertising. Facebook company information It is hard to imagine internet without social media and social media without Facebook. With 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide. In fact, almost two billion users access Facebook on a daily basis. Due to its immense reach, Facebook is a highly influential publisher and one of the leading platforms for influencer marketing worldwide, surpassed only by Instagram and YouTube. Brands value social media marketing for increased exposure, traffic, and leads, and it is no surprise that Facebook can deliver on these metrics in vast quantities.

Rumble is an online video platform launched in 2013 as an alternative to YouTube. In the second half of 2022, the company went public via a SPAC merger with CF Acquisition Corp. During the second quarter of 2024, the company reported net losses of 27 million U.S. dollars. This represents a decrease in losses from the previous quarter, when the company reported a negative of 43 million U.S. dollars.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of daily active users on Facebook reached 2.1 billion, a minor increase on the previous quarter. When compared with the number of daily active users in the final quarter of 2022, the platform has gained around 100 million users. Facebook’s penetration rate for the United States in 2023 was 72.13 percent, up from 71.43 percent in 2022. The social network’s audience reach is projected to stand at 75.79 percent by 2027.

Most popular social media websites

As of May 2021, Facebook was the most used social media site in the United States, accounting for 71.8 percent of all social media visits. Ranking in second place was Pinterest with 12.4 percent, followed by Twitter and Instagram, with 9.15 percent and 3.82 percent, respectively. Although other sites remain popular, Facebook’s number of visits made it undoubtably the leading social media platform in terms of social media site visits.

For Generation Z and Millennials in the United States, Facebook was one of the least popular platforms used to connect with others. Gen Z and Millennials preferred video sharing platforms, specifically Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

Meta’s revenue

Facebook Inc was renamed as Meta in 2021, in a strategic step toward the metaverse. Meta Platforms is now the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp amongst others, together being known as Meta’s Family of Apps.

Meta’s annual revenue for 2021 was 117.92 billion U.S. dollars, up from 85.97 billion in 2020. Within a decade, the company has increased its annual revenue by approximately 114 billion U.S. dollars. In the most recent fiscal year, Meta’s Family of Apps were responsible for over 115 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of Meta’s revenue.

In 2023, Google's ad revenue amounted to 264.59 billion U.S. dollars. The company generates advertising revenue through its Google Ads platform, which enables advertisers to display ads, product listings and service offerings across Google’s extensive ad network (properties, partner sites, and apps) to web users. Google advertising Advertising accounts for the majority of Google’s revenue, which amounted to a total of 305.63 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. The majority of Google's advertising revenue comes from search advertising. Google market share These revenue figures come as no surprise, as Google accounts for the majority of the online and mobile search market worldwide. As of September 2023, Google was responsible for more than 84 percent of global desktop search traffic. The company holds a market share of more than 80 percent in a wide range of digital markets, having little to no domestic competition in many of them. China, Russia, and to a certain extent, Japan, are some of the few notable exceptions, where local products are more preferred.

What is the most subscribed YouTube channel? MrBeast made the first place in the ranking of the most-subscribed YouTube channels in January 2025. With 343 million subscribers, the U.S. based videographer and internet personality managed to surpass Indian music network T-Series, which held the number one place for several years, and sat at 284 million subscriber as of the examined period. How many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute? YouTube was launched in 2005 as a platform for sharing user-generated videos such as vlogs, tutorials, or original series. The site grew rapidly and reportedly had 100 million video views per day and more than 65 thousand daily uploads only a year later. As of February 2022, more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute, up from a mere 24 hours of content uploads per minute in 2010. YouTube Partner Program In the first quarter of 2024, YouTube’s ad revenue amounted to over eight billion U.S. dollars. Through its Partner Program, YouTube also rewards uploaders of popular videos with a share of the advertising revenues the content generates. This, paired with the fact that many users of the video sharing platform tend to have favorite channels that they revisit regularly, has given rise to another phenomenon: YouTube celebrities. Although some of these well-known figures were discovered on the website but then carved a successful career outside of YouTube, for many others the site is their primary platform for delivering content and staying in contact with fans, all while signing lucrative deals or promotional partnerships. Highest earning YouTubers In November 2022, MrBeast surpassed long-standing most subscribed YouTuber PewDiePie, having reached approximately 112 million subscribers. Due to the high number of subscribers and even higher number of views, these out-of-the-box stars not only have millions of fans, but also considerable earnings from their YouTube activities. In 2023, MrBeast was estimated to have earned around 82 million U.S. dollars, topping the ranking of the highest-earning YouTube creators. The ranking also included social media personality Jake Paul and Mark Fischbach, as well as Ryan Kaji from Ryan's World (formerly known as ToysReview), who started his YouTube career reviewing toys at three years old.

As of February 2025, 12 percent of the YouTube global audience was composed of male users aged between 25 and 34 years, as well as around 9.7 percent of female users of the same age. Male users aged between 35 and 44 years on the platform accounted for 10.1 percent of the total, while women of the same age using YouTube had an audience share of 8.4 percent in the examined period. YouTube’s global popularity The number of monthly active users on YouTube reached almost 2.5 billion in April 2024, making it the second most popular social network on the internet. The platform's popularity spans all over the world, with India and the United States having the largest YouTube audiences. As of April 2024, the audience of YouTube in India was around 476 million, while the United States recorded a YouTube audience of around 238 million users.

YouTube’s digital revenues One of YouTube's leading monetization methods include advertising, with the company generating around 8.09 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2024. Additionally, the platform generated over 28 million dollars in the United States through in-app purchases, as well as over 19.2 million U.S. dollars in revenues from mobile app users in Japan.

With roughly three billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2023, Facebook is the most used online social network worldwide. The platform surpassed two billion active users in the second quarter of 2017, taking just over 13 years to reach this milestone. In comparison, Meta-owned Instagram took 11.2 years, and Google’s YouTube took just over 14 years to achieve this landmark. As of January 2022, Facebook’s leading audience base was in India, with almost 330 million users whilst the United States ranked second with an approximate total of 179 million users. The platform also finds remarkable popularity in Indonesia and Brazil. Social Media usage in the United States In January 2021, Facebook was the platform on which users in the United States spent the most time per day. The average time spent on Facebook was 33 minutes, followed by TikTok with 32 minutes and Twitter with 31 daily minutes. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, all major social media platforms saw an increase in daily usage, which then either plateaued or decreased in 2021. At the end of 2021, over a quarter of all Facebook users in the United States belonged to the 25 to 34 year age group and 18.2 percent of users were in the 35 to 44 year age group. In general, Facebook users were more likely to be female. Meta Platforms Meta is Facebook’s recently renamed parent company and had a grand total of 3.59 billion core product users by the final quarter of 2021. Other Meta products include Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus – Meta’s virtual reality subsidiary which produces VR headsets. In 2021, Meta's revenue amounted to 117 billion US dollars, up from around 86 billion U.S. dollars in the previous financial year.

During the first quarter of 2024, TikTok content recorded an average of 18,173 views, making the platform rank as the most engaging for social and short-form video content. Instagram was the second most popular platform, with its Reels generating 16,152 average views. Facebook short form videos, also called Reels, ranked third. In comparison, YouTube Shorts ranked the lowest based on average video views - approximately 650 as of the examined time. TikTok as a profession: from followers to career goals In 2024, TikTok had an average reach of around 13,000 users on the platform, though accounts’ reach exhibited an upward trend as the follower count increased. Tiny TikTok accounts with up to 500 followers had a reach of 10,000 users, while huge accounts with over 50,000 followers recorded a reach of 71,000 users during the same examined year. As of July 2024, Khabane Lame, who is known for his silent comedy about life hacks, held the crown of the most followed TikToker with around 163 million followers. American social media star Charli D’Amelio and MrBeast followed with over 155 and 97 million followers, respectively. As of September 2023, Charli D’Amelio was the highest earning TikTok creator, with estimated annual earnings of 23 million U.S. dollars. Khabane Lame’s followed with estimated annual earnings of 16.5 million U.S. dollars. But do TikTok users consider content creation as a job? As of March 2024, six percent of the TikTok users in the United States reported considering content creation as a full-time job, while 11 percent reported planning to adopt content creation as a profession. If TikTok had to face a ban in the country, around 30 percent of U.S. TikTok influencers would consider YouTube, and Facebook as their potential alternatives for content creation as of April 2024. Instagram followed, as 15 percent of respondents reported they would adopt the platform in the case of the TikTok ban. Who uses TikTok? As of July 2024, over 54 percent of the global TikTok audience were men, while women comprised around 45 percent of the audience share. Men between the ages of 25 and 34 held the largest share of 19 percent of total TikTok users during the same examined period. Indonesia was the country with the highest number of TikTok users, as around 158 million users based in the region reported accessing the platform as of July 2024. The United States, and Brazil followed with over 120 and 105 million TikTok users, respectively. In terms of TikTok penetration rate, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia dominated other regions, as virtually everyone based in these countries registered using the famous short-video platform during the same period.

According to the source, Alphabet alone accounted for an estimated one-quarter of the global advertising spending in 2023, making the Google-controlling holding the world's leading media owner by that criterion. Meta and Amazon followed with shares of 13.5 and 4.7 percent, respectively. Along with Alibaba and TikTok, the five companies collectively accounted for over half of the global ad expenditure that year. The same source projected that social media, connected TV (CTV), and retail media will be the leading media by forecast ad revenues growth rate in 2024.

Alphabet: the omnipresent ad player Google's global ad revenues will surpass an estimated 273 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 – over twice as much as recorded half a decade earlier, in 2019, before the pandemic. The annual value was forecast to continue to expand, exceeding 340 billion dollars by 2027. The seemingly unstoppable growth relies on the search leviathan's nearly ubiquitous presence: As of April 2024, its browser Google Chrome, for instance, concentrated over three-quarters of the market share in very populated countries such as India and Brazil. In the U.S., it accounted for over half of the browser segment, whereas the global average almost reached two-thirds.

Meta: the social media ad champion Thanks to the popularity of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Meta still dominates the social media segment from an advertising perspective. Between early 2021 and late 2023, Meta's global in-app ad impressions quarterly growth rates consistently remained double-digit, increasing by over 20 percent in the final quarter of the latter year. As of April 2024, it controlled two of the top three social networks by number of active users worldwide: Facebook with more than three million at number one and third-placed Instagram with about two billion. YouTube, controlled by Alphabet, ranked second with over 2.5 billion active users.

As of the third quarter of 2023, WhatsApp was the most active social network among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK), with 79 percent of internet users reporting use of the service. Facebook was very close behind, with a rate of 73 percent, followed by Facebook Messenger with 60.1 percent. YouTube’s broad audience in the United Kingdom YouTube reaches a broad audience in the UK, making it an attractive partner for advertisers of almost any product. More than 75 percent of individuals of every income bracket watch YouTube, with the likelihood of watching increasing with the pay-grade. Whether advertising basic items or luxury products, marketers should be able to connect with UK audiences through YouTube. There are almost no people in the UK to not use YouTube at least monthly. According to a survey conducted in the third quarter of 2020, 46 percent of respondents went on YouTube on a daily basis. Facebook in the United Kingdom  Despite an increase in recent months, Facebook still enjoys a healthy market position in the UK, holding an estimated  55 percent share of the market. The service attracted  50.6 million UK users during May 2021, and Facebook UK Limited  generated 1.1 billion British pounds in revenue  during 2019. The UK division of the company  posted an operating profit of 121.9 million British pounds that year. 

A global survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2023 found that the main reason for using social media was to keep in touch with friends and family, with over 49 percent of social media users saying this was their main reason for using online networks. Overall, 38 percent of social media users said that filling spare time was their main reason for using social media platforms, whilst 34.3 percent of respondents said they used it to read news stories. One in five users were on social platforms for the reason of following celebrities and influencers. The most popular social network Facebook dominates the social media landscape. The world's most popular social media platform turned 20 in February 2024, and it continues to lead the way in terms of user numbers. As of January 2024, the social network had over three billion global users. YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram follow, but none of these well-known brands can surpass Facebook’s audience size. Moreover, as of the final quarter of 2023, there were almost four billion Meta product users. Ever-evolving social media usage The utilization of social media remains largely gratuitous; however, companies have been encouraging users to become paid subscribers to reduce dependence on advertising profits. Meta Verified entices users by offering a blue verification badge and proactive account protection, among other things. X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, and Reddit also offer users the chance to upgrade their social media accounts for a monthly free.

As of April 2024, there were almost 90 million Pinterest users in the United States, making it the country with the most Pinterest users by far. Ranking second was Brazil, with 38.925 million users, followed by Mexico, Germany, and France, respectively. Pinterest’s audience In the first quarter of 2024, Pinterest had a total of 518 million monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide, an increase of two million users from the previous quarter. Throughout 2021, the social media site saw a steady decline in MAUs, after seeing a constant increase throughout 2020. The increase in usage of many social media platforms coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns. As of April 2024, significantly more women than men used Pinterest, with women making up almost three-quarters of its user base. The platform’s largest audience, in terms of gender and age, was women between the ages of 25 to 34, who accounted for more than a fifth of all users, followed by women aged 18 to 24 years. User satisfaction According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), as of June 2021, Pinterest scored the highest level of customer satisfaction for selected social media sites, ranking ahead of platforms such as YouTube, Wikipedia, and TikTok. Overall, Pinterest received a total score of 78 out of 100 index points. Pinterest’s financials For the financial year 2023, Pinterest generated over three billion U.S. dollars in global annual revenue, a rise from the previous year’s result of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars. The majority of this revenue was generated in the United States. Additionally, in the last quarter of 2023, the social media platform reported a net loss of over 200 million U.S. dollars. As of June 2023, Pinterest was one of the biggest consumer internet and online service companies worldwide in terms of market capitalization. With a market cap of 19 billion U.S. dollars, Pinterest ranked in 16th place, ahead of Chewy, Delivery Hero, and Etsy.

According to a survey among internet users conducted in Vietnam in the fourth quarter of 2023, YouTube was the leading app for streaming music among Generation Z, as stated by 43 percent of the respondents. The homegrown app Zing ranked third among the list, with 16 percent of the respondents having listened to music using this app. Music streaming in Vietnam Movie and music streaming was the most popular online activity among Vietnam’s highly connected population in 2022. As reported in the third quarter of 2023, the share of internet users who used music streaming services reached approximately 31.6 percent. On average, one spent a little over an hour listening to streamed music daily in the country. In general, the music streaming sector in Vietnam has been recording a growing revenue in recent years, and its revenue was forecasted to reach nearly 46 million U.S. dollars by 2027. YouTube as a go-to streaming platform among Vietnamese people As many streaming service users in Vietnam still preferred using a free platform instead of paying for an ad-free experience, YouTube has been the top-of-mind platform when it comes to streaming, whether it is music, movies, or short video streaming. Over 60 percent of adult viewers in the country reported watching YouTube content for at least an hour per day. Meanwhile, paid on-demand platforms have been on the rise among the youngest generation of internet users. For instance, Netflix, FPT Play, and Spotify have gradually claimed their spots among the most used streaming services by Vietnam's Generation Z.

The social media industry in Hong Kong has gone from strength to strength. Facebook and WhatsApp remained the top with a 70.6 percent monthly usage rate as of the third quarter of 2024. Facebook lost its dominance in the market with a 77 percent penetration rate, followed by Instagram. The high internet quality It comes as no surprise that a large percentage of the population in the Asian financial hub are active social media users. Hong Kong citizens are known for being well connected in the social media world. It consistently ranks as having one of the fastest internet connections worldwide - as of April 2023, Hong Kong had an average fixed broadband internet connection speed of 205.19 Mbps. Facebook in Hong Kong Facebook is not just used for staying connected with friends and family; many in the financial hub also use it to keep up with the latest news and to research or find products to purchase. With such a high user penetration rate, Facebook has been particularly focused on brand advertising and user engagement. Mobile advertising accounted for a large chunk of Facebook’s global advertising revenue. In Hong Kong, social media advertising grew by 12 percent, while Facebook's ad revenue increased by four percent in the third quarter of 2022.