Google’s paid subscription service sign-ups totalled 350 million in the first quarter of this year. YouTube and Google One plans led the growth, while the generative AI service Gemini still had only limited metrics disclosed.

TechCrunch reported on Tuesday that Alphabet, Google’s parent, said in its first-quarter earnings announcement that total paid subscriptions increased to 350 million from 325 million in the fourth quarter of last year. That was an increase of 25 million in a single quarter.

YouTube and Google One were at the centre of the growth. Google did not disclose the number of Gemini subscribers or the size of its monthly active users, but it said it offers advanced AI features as part of Google One plans. As a result, the quarter’s subscription expansion is interpreted as being driven more by existing consumer services than by stand-alone growth in Gemini.

The scope of disclosures related to Gemini was limited again. As in the previous quarter, Google suggested the number of Gemini chatbot users could be at least 750 million, but it did not provide a specific figure. It instead emphasised growth in the enterprise market. Alphabet said paid monthly active users for Gemini increased 40 percent from the previous quarter. It did not disclose absolute user numbers or revenue 규모.

At YouTube, a structural shift between subscription growth and the advertising business became more pronounced. First-quarter YouTube ad revenue was tallied at $9.88 billion. That was up 11 percent from a year earlier but fell short of the market expectation of $9.99 billion. As YouTube expands ad-free viewing through premium plans, it has again been confirmed that some ad-based revenue continues to shift to subscriptions.

Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai (순다르 피차이) has also said in earlier earnings commentary that YouTube should be assessed by looking at advertising and subscriptions together. He said if users move to YouTube subscription plans, there could be a negative impact on ad revenue. YouTube’s combined annual revenue from advertising and subscriptions exceeded $60 billion last year, but in this quarter a slowdown in ad growth and the miss versus market expectations drew more attention.

Alphabet’s overall results beat market forecasts. First-quarter total revenue came to $109.9 billion, and cloud revenue exceeded $20 billion for the first time. The view is that overall business growth and cloud expansion underpinned the share price rise despite YouTube ad growth falling short of expectations.

The market sees the results as confirming that Google is restructuring its business model by expanding the share of subscription-based revenue in consumer services and increasing paid use of Gemini in the enterprise market.

With Gemini’s actual scale of paid use and its revenue contribution still undisclosed, market attention is expected to focus on whether subscription growth centred on YouTube and Google One continues, and whether Gemini can establish itself as a stand-alone key business metric.