YouTube's total revenue surpassed $60 billion in 2025, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google parent Alphabet, said on February 4.
The figure, which includes YouTube's ads and subscription income, underscores the rapid growth of the Google-owned video platform in recent years. By comparison, rival Netflix reported $45.2 billion in revenue for 2025.
"We continue to see strong subscription revenue growth across YouTube, particularly YouTube Music Premium. We will soon launch new YouTube TV plans, bringing more choice and flexibility to subscribers with over ten genre-specific packages," Pichai said during the company's earnings call on February 4. YouTube TV is a television streaming service available in the United States.
Google typically does not report the overall revenues of YouTube each quarter. The last time it disclosed was in October 2024, when Pichai announced that the video platform had surpassed $50 billion for the first time in the preceding four quarters.
The tech giant instead provides only the platform's advertising sales figures, which grew by 8.7 percent to $11.4 billion in Q4 2025, from $10.5 billion in the same quarter last year.
The income from YouTube's subscription services, including YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, is bundled with Google's broader subscriptions, platforms, and devices business. This segment also comprises revenues from the Pixel family of devices, app sales on Google Play, and subscription services such as Google One among other products and services.
The segment generated revenues of $13.6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2025, a 17.2 percent increase from $11.6 billion revenue in the same quarter last year.
Also read: YouTube to sharpen focus on live content, alternate movie distribution: India MD Gunjan Soni
Driving adoption for subscriptions
Pichai said that the company now has 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, led by strong adoption for Google One and YouTube Premium.
While he didn't provide any specific breakup, YouTube had previously announced surpassing 125 million subscribers globally across Music and Premium services in March 2025.
To further accelerate this growth, YouTube introduced a lower-cost subscription tier, Premium Lite, last year. Priced at Rs 89 a month, Premium Lite enables viewers to watch ad-free videos in categories such as gaming, comedy, cooking or learning.
Subscribers, however, see ads on music content, music videos and Shorts. Consumers will also not be able to play videos in the background or download them for offline viewing.
In May 2025, Moneycontrol reported that YouTube is also piloting a new subscription tier with select users in India, France, Taiwan, and Hong Kong that lets them share their Premium or Music Premium membership with another household member.
The two-person YouTube Premium subscription tier is being offered in India at a monthly price of Rs 219, while the Music Premium is available at Rs 149 during the pilot.
In India, standard YouTube Premium plans start at Rs 89 for students, Rs 149 for individuals, and Rs 299 for families. Music Premium plans begin at Rs 59 for students, Rs 119 for individuals, and Rs 179 for families. The company hiked the prices of all its subscription tiers in August 2024 by 12 to 58 percent.
YouTube's AI push
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also transforming the YouTube experience for both creators and viewers, Pichai noted.
"Over one million channels used our new AI creation tools to supercharge their creativity. During that same month, more than 20 million viewers used our new Ask tool, powered by Gemini, to learn more about the content they watched," he said.
YouTube will continue to integrate new tools powered by Google's AI models, including the general-purpose world model Genie, with creators at the centre of the experience, Pichai added.
Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler noted that YouTube Shorts now averages over 200 billion daily views and highlighted that the bite-sized video feature is now earning more revenue per watch hour than traditional in-stream ads on YouTube in many markets, including the United States.
YouTube as the new 'TV'
The company is also focused on making YouTube a premier shopping destination, Schindler added.
"Viewers trust product and brand recommendations from YouTube creators...Innovations, like shoppable ad formats, are improving advertiser return on investment," he said.
YouTube is also working on expanding the functionality of its creator partnership hub, making it easier for brands to find creators and develop campaigns, Schindler stated.
The video platform is also aiming to position itself as the "new television" for consumers in India and globally, offering more personalised and interactive experiences.
Pichai said that viewers watched over 700 million hours of podcasts on living room devices as of October 2025, up 75 percent from the same month in the prior year.
In December, YouTube also secured exclusive global streaming rights to the Oscars, Hollywood’s most prestigious night, for a five year period starting in 2029, a move that will end a more than 70 year run on broadcast television.
In addition to streaming the main Oscars ceremony for free, YouTube will feature red carpet coverage, behind the scenes content, and Oscars nomination announcements.
Last month, BBC announced a partnership with YouTube that will see the U.K. broadcaster producing original content aimed at digital-native younger audiences on the platform. This will include a mixture of entertainment, documentaries, children's channels, news and sports content.
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