YouTube’s Enormous Audience Power and a $30 Billion Ad Business

YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing platform, is one of the most powerful and profitable platforms on the internet today. With a staggering 2.3 billion monthly active users, YouTube has become the birthplace of enormous media empires, including that of Mr. Beast, one of the platform’s most popular creators who earned over $50 million last year.

YouTube’s enormous audience power and influence are evidenced by its $30 billion ad business, with the platform generating more ad revenue than any other video platform. YouTube’s focus on creators has helped to ensure that the platform always has the content that people want to watch, even if it sacrifices some earnings in the short term.

Susan Wojcicki, Google’s royalty, initially rented her garage out to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. She went on to become the company’s first marketing manager and helped to drive the development of AdSense. Then, in 2006, she convinced the board to spend $1.65 billion acquiring a startup called YouTube after noticing the company was outcompeting her unit — Google Video. Wojcicki officially became CEO of YouTube in 2014 and maintained the early focus on creators.

YouTube has faced the usual problems associated with user-generated content, such as moderation and how to handle bad actors, but it has propelled YouTube to second place on the list of most visited websites. Wojcicki recently announced that she would be stepping down after 25 years at Google…