YouTube posted $40.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, surpassing the combined ad revenue of major Hollywood studios including Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) of $37.8 billion, TechCrunch reported on Monday.
In 2024, YouTube's ad revenue was $36.1 billion, falling short of the Hollywood studios' $41.8 billion, but the picture reversed last year.
As traditional film and TV studios struggled with streaming competition and rising production costs, YouTube grew quickly and established itself at the center of the media market, TechCrunch said.
Alphabet announced that YouTube's total revenue reached $60 billion last year. Revenue excluding advertising came from subscription services such as YouTube TV, Premium, Music and NFL Sunday Ticket.
YouTube's advertising revenue is still smaller than that of big tech companies such as Meta, which recorded $196.2 billion, but advertisers are paying more attention as YouTube consumption increases among younger people.
YouTube's advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached $11.4 billion. YouTube is strengthening investment in AI and expanding technology to detect AI-generated deepfakes targeting government officials, politicians and journalists.
Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)
delight@d-today.co.kr