In 2022, YouTube generated over $29 billion in revenue, in ads, compared to TikTok’s $11 billion. However, TikTok is growing quickly, from $4.6 billion in 2021, while YouTube’s growth has stalled, as it generated almost $29 billion in ad revenue in 2021.
Both companies can be considered the most popular video social/entertainment media.
Indeed, YouTube started as a video search engine, acquired by Google in 2006, and it was successfully integrated into Google’s businessmodel.
YouTube was acquired for almost $1.7 billion in 2006 by Google. It makes money through advertising and subscription revenues. YouTube advertising network is part of Google Ads, and it reported more than $29B in revenues by 2022. YouTube also makes money with its paid memberships and premium content.
In fact, by 2022, YouTube generated nearly $30 billion in ad revenue. And it’s one of the main products within Google.
While Google has been rebranded as Alphabet, back in 2015, in reality, the company still primarily makes money from advertising.
Indeed, in 2022, Alphabet generated over $162 billion from Google searches, $32 billion from Google Network members, and over $29 billion from YouTube ads.
In total, Google made over $224 billion in advertising revenue from Search, Network members, and YouTube Ads combined.
This represented almost 80% of Alphabet’s total revenue. Instead, Google search represented over 57% of its total revenues.
On the other hand, TikTok has been a successful social media platform launched in the last five years.
The company managed to create a whole new concept of social media, which, compared to Facebook and Instagram, moved beyond the social graph.
It worked purely through a recommendation engine that enabled users to discover sticky content worldwide through its AI-based feed.
TikTok makes money through advertising. It is estimated that ByteDance, its owner, made $51 billion in 2021 in revenues. TikTok instead generated $11 billion in advertising in 2022, 3.3 billion downloads, and 1.2 billion monthly active users in 2021. TikTok, therefore, is a multi-billion company worth anywhere between $100 and-150 billion and among the most valuable social media platforms on earth.
YouTube and TikTok are in direct competition, as YouTube has successfully transitioned into an entertainment platform where short-form video content is among its main features.
In addition, YouTube is now successfully integrating that short-form video content into its advertising machine, thus making it possible for Google to monetize it.
Google is an attention merchant that – in 2022 – generated over $224 billion (almost 80% of revenues) from ads (Google Search, YouTube Ads, and Network sites), followed by Google Play, Pixel phones, YouTube Premium (a $29 billion segment), and Google Cloud ($26.2 billion).
Of Google’s (Alphabet) over $282 billion revenue for 2022, Google also generated over a billion dollars from a group of startup bets, which Google considers potential moonshots (companies that might open up new industries). Those Google’s bets also generated a loss for the company of over $6 billion in the same year. In short, Google is using the money generated by search and betting it on other innovative industries. Of Google’s (Alphabet) over $282 billion revenue for 2022, Google also generated over a billion dollars from a group of startup bets, which Google considers potential moonshots (companies that might open up new industries). Those Google’s bets also generated a loss for the company of over $6 billion in the same year. In short, Google is using the money generated by search and betting it on other innovative industries.
Google is an attention merchant that – in 2022 – generated $224 billion (almost 80% of its total revenues) from ads (Google Search, YouTube Ads, and Network sites), followed by Google Play, Pixel phones, YouTube Premium (a $29 billion segment), and Google Cloud ($26.3 billion).
The traffic acquisition cost represents the expenses incurred by an internet company, like Google, to gain qualified traffic – on its pages – for monetization. Over the years, Google has been able to reduce its traffic acquisition costs and, in any case, to keep it stable. In 2022 Google spent 21.75% of its total advertising revenues (over $48 billion) to guarantee its traffic on several desktop and mobile devices across the web.
Alphabet generated over $282B from Google search and others, $32.78 billion from the Network members (Adsense and AdMob), $29.2 billion from YouTube Ads, $26.28B from the Cloud, and $29 billion from other sources (Google Play, Hardware devices, and other services).
YouTube was acquired for almost $1.7 billion in 2006 by Google. It makes money through advertising and subscription revenues. YouTube advertising network is part of Google Ads, and it reported more than $29B in revenues by 2022. YouTube also makes money with its paid memberships and premium content.
In 2022, Google generated over $282 billion in revenues, of which over $162 billion from Google Search, over $29 billion from YouTube Ads, and almost $33 billion from Network Members’ properties. In addition, Google generated over $29 billion in other revenue, over $26 billion from Google Cloud, and over a billion dollars from other bets.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
