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The question almost no one knows the answer to is - is YouTube actually profitable? My guess is no. We have this amazing resource with an amazing amount of con

by zpeti 5y ago

The question almost no one knows the answer to is - is YouTube actually profitable? My guess is no. We have this amazing resource with an amazing amount of content, yet it is probably subsidized by one of the largest companies in the world. It’s a big question whether YouTube can even exist without that subsidy. My hunch is they need to do this kind of thing to somehow reach break even. Edit: to the people downvoting and quoting numbers, alphabet has never broken out actual profitability numbers. Just because YouTube made $15bn last year doesn’t mean anything. Hosting costs, moderation costs, music license fees!!!, you have no idea how much YouTube costs to operate. It could be more than $15bn.

biggc 5y ago
> The question almost no one knows the answer to is - is YouTube actually profitable? I think the answer is yes, and hugely so.
- htrp 5y ago
  Youtube is hugely profitable... Youtube ads brought in 6bn of revenue in the first 3 months of 2021.
mrkramer 5y ago
At the beginning it wasn't but they sold to Google in order to help them scale and the Moore's Law kicked in with powerful CPUs and cheap memory my conclusion is it is very profitable.
ahofmann 5y ago
Well, here are some numbers. > On an annual basis, Google says YouTube generated $15 billion last year and contributed roughly 10 percent to all Google revenue. > Overall, Alphabet made $46 billion in revenue in the quarter that ended December 31st, 2019, a 17 percent jump over 2018. Nearly $10.7 billion of that was profit, the company says. Google’s search business remains the big moneymaker of Alphabet’s sprawling empire, earning $27.2 billion for the quarter. Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-alphabet-earnings-revenue-first-time-reveal-q4-2019 https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-al...
- Ajedi32 5y ago
  That's a lot of revenue, but revenue != profit. Any estimates as to how much YouTube costs to run, and whether that figure is greater or less than $15B?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
agarv 5y ago
I was thinking about that recently, and I'm not so sure either. The profit margin for Google Services which YouTube is a part of is 30%, but that also contains the ads division, which is hugely profitable. Also, you would expect if YouTube's profit margin was 30% as well they would disclose it, so you have to imagine it must be significantly less. https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/03/google-revenue-profitability-accelerate-again/ https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/03/google-revenue-pro...

by zpeti 5y ago

biggc 5y ago

> The question almost no one knows the answer to is - is YouTube actually profitable? I think the answer is yes, and hugely so.

htrp 5y ago
Youtube is hugely profitable... Youtube ads brought in 6bn of revenue in the first 3 months of 2021.

mrkramer 5y ago

At the beginning it wasn't but they sold to Google in order to help them scale and the Moore's Law kicked in with powerful CPUs and cheap memory my conclusion is it is very profitable.

ahofmann 5y ago

Well, here are some numbers. > On an annual basis, Google says YouTube generated $15 billion last year and contributed roughly 10 percent to all Google revenue. > Overall, Alphabet made $46 billion in revenue in the quarter that ended December 31st, 2019, a 17 percent jump over 2018. Nearly $10.7 billion of that was profit, the company says. Google’s search business remains the big moneymaker of Alphabet’s sprawling empire, earning $27.2 billion for the quarter. Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-alphabet-earnings-revenue-first-time-reveal-q4-2019 https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-al...

Ajedi32 5y ago
That's a lot of revenue, but revenue != profit. Any estimates as to how much YouTube costs to run, and whether that figure is greater or less than $15B?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

agarv 5y ago

I was thinking about that recently, and I'm not so sure either. The profit margin for Google Services which YouTube is a part of is 30%, but that also contains the ads division, which is hugely profitable. Also, you would expect if YouTube's profit margin was 30% as well they would disclose it, so you have to imagine it must be significantly less. https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/03/google-revenue-profitability-accelerate-again/ https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/02/03/google-revenue-pro...