# YouTube

> YouTube is the world's largest video platform, a Google subsidiary where more than two billion people go each month to watch, upload, and make money from video. It runs a two-sided business: creators post everything from bedroom vlogs to feature-length productions, viewers watch free with ads or pay for Premium, Music, and YouTube TV, and Google splits ad revenue with the people who make the content. Twenty years after a PayPal-alumni trio launched it with a 19-second clip at the zoo, YouTube has become both the default home for online video and a serious rival to traditional television.

- **Founded:** 2005
- **Headquarters:** San Bruno, California, United States
- **Founders:** Chad Hurley (Co-founder & first CEO), Steve Chen (Co-founder & CTO), Jawed Karim (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** Part of Google/Alphabet (~124,000+ employees at Google); YouTube itself employs thousands.
- **Products:** YouTube (main platform), YouTube Partner Program, Content ID, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music
- **Notable:** Grew to over 2.7 billion monthly users - roughly a third of the global population., Paid creators, artists, and media companies over $100 billion cumulatively (milestone announced in 2025)., Reached more than 125 million Premium and Music subscribers.

## Products & services

- **YouTube (main platform)** — Free, ad-supported video hosting, sharing, and discovery for billions of viewers and creators worldwide.
- **YouTube Partner Program** — Monetization program that shares ad revenue with creators (creators keep 55% of ad revenue) plus memberships, Super Chat, and shopping tools.
- **Content ID** — Automated rights-management system that scans uploads against reference files so rights holders can block, track, or monetize matching content.
- **YouTube Premium** — Paid subscription that removes ads, enables background and offline playback, and bundles YouTube Music.
- **YouTube Music** — Music streaming service competing with Spotify and Apple Music.
- **YouTube TV** — Live TV streaming bundle with cloud DVR, replacing traditional cable, including NFL Sunday Ticket.
- **YouTube Shorts** — Short-form vertical video format competing with TikTok and Instagram Reels; now at revenue-per-watch-hour parity with core YouTube in the US.
- **YouTube Kids** — A filtered app with parental controls designed for younger audiences.
- **Creator AI tools** — AI features including Dream Screen backgrounds, auto-dubbing across languages, and generative editing aids for Shorts.

## Achievements

- Grew to over 2.7 billion monthly users - roughly a third of the global population.
- Paid creators, artists, and media companies over $100 billion cumulatively (milestone announced in 2025).
- Reached more than 125 million Premium and Music subscribers.
- TVs overtook mobile as the primary device for YouTube viewing in early 2025.
- YouTube Shorts reached revenue-per-watch-hour parity with core YouTube in the US.
- CEO Neal Mohan named TIME's 2025 CEO of the Year.
- Over 1 billion hours of video watched daily; 500+ hours uploaded every minute.

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan named TIME's CEO of the Year for 2025.
- **2025-09** — YouTube announced surpassing $100 billion in cumulative payouts to creators over three years.
- **2025-08** — Alphabet reporting shows YouTube tracking toward roughly $60 billion in annual revenue, with subscriptions about a third of the total.
- **2025-05** — YouTube reported over 2.7 billion monthly users.
- **2025-03** — Shorts viewing up sharply year over year; revenue-per-watch-hour reaches parity with core YouTube in several countries.
- **2025-02** — The refreshed 2024 YouTube logo and 'YouTube New' typeface fully rolled out, retiring the 2017 mark.

## Links

- Website: https://www.youtube.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/youtube
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/YouTube
- GitHub: https://github.com/youtube
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/YouTube
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youtube
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youtube
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@youtube

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/youtube
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-13