YouTube ad revenue hits $8.9 billion as upfront deals power Alphabet past Q3 projections

Alphabet delivered another strong set of quarterly results during Q3 2024, and YouTube was a big reason why. The video-oriented subsidiary of Google‘s parent company raked in $8.9 billion in ad revenue during the third quarter.

YouTube’s ad revenue exceeded the quarterly total from the previous year by approximately $1 billion. The platform also achieved an unprecedented milestone by reaching $50 billion in aggregate ad and subscription revenue over the past four quarters.

While there were a number of factors that contributed to YouTube’s third-quarter ad bump, its presence on TV screens provided one of the biggest boosts. Since positioning its annual Brandcast to align with the TV-focused upfronts, YouTube has gobbled up an increasing share of TV viewership while drawing additional interest from agencies and increasing its ad load on TVs to match that enthusiasm.

During the Q3 2024 earnings call, Google CBO Philipp Schindler (pictured above) said that YouTube’s upfront commitments from advertisers went up by 20% year-over-year. Schindler gave a shout-out to creators like Michelle Khare and Rhett & Link, who are developing spectacular programs tailor-made for TV screens.

YouTube also saw growth on TVs thanks to premium subscriptions like NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV. “We’re unlocking more opportunities in the living room,” Schindler said. “The number of creators making the majority of their YouTube revenue on TV screens is up more than 30% year on year.”

As powerful as YouTube’s TV presence is, it’s not solely responsible for the platform’s steady progress. According to the Q3 report, 70% of YouTube channels that upload at least one video per month are active on Shorts. The TikTok-like format comes with its own opportunities on TV screens thanks to product innovations that connect YouTube’s various screens.

And then there are the non-YouTube parts of Alphabet, which are still contributing the lion’s share of the holding company’s revenue. Alphabet beat analyst expectations with $88.3 billion in quarterly revenue, and Google’s ads division led the way with a 34% increase to $26.3 billion in net income.

One major threat to Alphabet’s multiplatform empire is an ongoing legal battle that could result in a forced breakup of Google’s ad business, which has been described as a monopoly. Google contests that allegation, and CEO Sundar Pichai said his company will continue to stick up for itself in court.

“We plan to vigorously defend these cases and some of the early proposals from the DOJ have been far-reaching,” Pichai said. “I think they could have unintended consequences, particularly to the dynamic tech sector, and the American leadership there and so we plan to be planning to engage very vigorously there.”