YouTube has become one of the world’s most powerful advertising ecosystems, now competing directly with linear TV for living-room attention. It has around 2.6 billion monthly users and annual revenue exceeding $60 billion (€52.3bn) in 2025, of which more than $40 billion is attributed to advertising, according to WARC Media.

However, the platform’s ad business growth is slowing, and it finds itself under pressure from rivals such as Netflix and TikTok.

WARC Media’s Iatest Platform Insights report examines YouTube’s ad revenue trajectory and competitive position, how and where audiences are consuming content, and what the data says about campaign performance.

Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, and lead editor of the report, commented: “Rising consumption of video content on YouTube, and in particular on TV screens, has not yet translated into the kind of year-on-year ad revenue growth we see elsewhere in the digital ad market. YouTube has been less successful than rivals such as TikTok in its attempts to persuade marketers of its role in driving lower-funnel outcomes, hence its growing focus on winning a greater share of TV budgets.”

Investment: YouTube advertising revenue slows 

YouTube’s global ad revenue grew 11.7 per cent year-on-year to $40.4 billion in 2025, while total platform revenue, including YouTube Premium subscriptions, exceeded $60 billion for the first time.

However, YouTube’s year-on-year ad revenue growth decelerated from 14.7 per cent in 2024 to 11.7 per cent in 2025 and is forecast to drop to 7 per cent this year ($43.2 billion) and 7.9 per cent by 2027 ($46.6 billion).

In part, this reflects a maturing platform, but YouTube faces growing competition for performance ad dollars as marketers favour platforms like TikTok for social commerce. At current growth rates, TikTok’s ad revenue could overtake YouTube’s by 2028.

Netflix has also emerged as a key competitor. Its ad tier success positions it for long-term advantage in securing subscriber and advertiser investment and is expected to pull ahead of YouTube over the next 18 months.

Research from DoubleVerify’s 2026 Global Insights, Kantar’s Media Resources 2025, and WARC’s Voice of the Marketer carried out in 2025, all found that marketers globally intend to increase ad investment with YouTube this year, suggesting it remains a core component in media plans.

Consumption: TV is YouTube’s fastest-growing screen     

YouTube is used by nearly 2.6 billion people every month, who spend an average of 58 minutes daily on the platform in 2025, up from 48 minutes in 2024 – reflecting deepening engagement rather than audience expansion.

India leads with 500 million users, followed by the US at 254 million, with Indonesia and Brazil close behind at 151 million and 150 million respectively.

Based on Similarweb App Intelligence data, YouTube generates the highest total time spent on any social or video platform globally.

The 25-34 age group is the largest demographic segment at 21.7 per cent, the 35-44 group accounts for 18.5% and the over-65s represent the smallest segment at 9.5 per cent.

YouTube viewing is shifting from mobile to larger screens. Connected TV accounts for 45 per cent of total YouTube watch time in the US, with average session lengths exceeding 45 minutes and completion rates of 95 per cent or higher.

YouTube Shorts, the platform’s vertical video format is reshaping consumption, and now averages more than 200 billion daily views globally.

Monetisation is steadily rising in response. In several major markets, including the US, revenue-per-watch-hour for Shorts has overtaken that of traditional in-stream formats. Further ad revenue growth will require advertisers to get on board with the creative requirements for the format.

YouTube’s content mix is broader than any other platform, spanning music, entertainment, gaming, news, education, children’s content, and an increasingly significant podcast offering.

According to Affinco data, music videos remain the most-watched content globally. MrBeast leads by subscribers at 503 million; Indian music label T-Series leads for views at 322 billion.

YouTube’s strength lies in local, interest-led, and creator-driven content, while traditional broadcast and SVOD platforms are better positioned to create global cultural moments.

Performance: YouTube is the most trusted advertising environment among marketers 

For a third consecutive year, YouTube ranked as the most preferred and most trusted media brand among marketers globally, according to Kantar, and ranks second in brand safety, behind Netflix.

Ad format selection is driving variations in ad performance. In-feed ads have been found by Store Growers to deliver the strongest click-through performance, with CTRs ranging from 1 per cent to 3 per cent, above the all platform average of 0.65 per cent. Non-skippable in-stream ads generate less than 0.3 per cent click-through rates, making them better suited to awareness objectives than to direct response.

Gen Z is YouTube’s most valuable and commercially active audience. Half (51 per cent) of Gen Z males and 43 per cent of Gen Z females made a purchase after watching an ad on YouTube Shorts, making YouTube a direct commerce driver for younger cohorts.

YouTube has overtaken Spotify for podcast viewing. Viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts on YouTube via TV screens in a month, up 70 per cent year-on-year.

YouTube has eclipsed Reddit as the leading social platform source for large language models (LLMs), creating a new visibility layer for brands with a strong YouTube presence.

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Categories: Advertising, Broadcast, Headline, Markets, OTT, Research, Social Media

Tags: advertising, netflix, WARC, youtube