YouTube generated more than $40 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, but its ad business is entering a slower growth phase as competition from TikTok and Netflix intensifies, according to a new report by WARC Media.
The latest Platform Insights: YouTube report estimates that YouTube earned $40.4 billion in advertising revenue last year, up 11.7% year on year, while total platform revenue, including YouTube Premium subscriptions, surpassed $60 billion for the first time.
However, the report says annual ad revenue growth has slowed from 14.7% in 2024 to 11.7% in 2025. WARC forecasts growth will ease further to 7.0% in 2026, with advertising revenue reaching $43.2 billion, before rising 7.9% to $46.6 billion in 2027.
According to the report, YouTube’s slowing momentum reflects both the maturity of the platform and increasing competition for performance advertising budgets. TikTok continues to attract marketers focused on social commerce, while Netflix’s expanding advertising business is strengthening its position among advertisers and subscribers.
Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, and lead editor of the report, said: “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.”
Despite slower revenue growth, marketers continue to view YouTube as a key advertising platform. Research cited in the report from DoubleVerify, Kantar and WARC indicates that brands globally plan to increase their YouTube advertising spend this year.
The platform’s audience also continues to expand. WARC estimates YouTube now reaches nearly 2.6 billion monthly users worldwide, with average daily viewing time rising to 58 minutes in 2025 from 48 minutes a year earlier.
India remains YouTube’s largest market with around 500 million users, followed by the United States with 254 million. Indonesia and Brazil each have about 150 million users.
Viewing habits are also shifting, with television becoming YouTube’s fastest-growing screen. Connected TVs now account for 45% of total YouTube watch time in the US, while YouTube Shorts records more than 200 billion daily views globally.
The report notes that Shorts is becoming an increasingly important revenue driver, with revenue per watch hour in several major markets, including the US, now exceeding that of traditional in-stream video formats.
YouTube also remains a preferred platform among advertisers. For the third consecutive year, marketers ranked it as the most preferred and most trusted media brand globally in Kantar’s survey, while Netflix ranked ahead of YouTube on brand safety.
The report highlights Gen Z as YouTube’s most commercially active audience, with 51% of Gen Z males and 43% of Gen Z females reporting they made a purchase after watching an advertisement on YouTube Shorts.
Beyond advertising, YouTube has overtaken Spotify in podcast viewing, with audiences watching more than 700 million hours of podcasts on TV screens in a single month, a 70% year-on-year increase. The report also says YouTube has surpassed Reddit as the leading social platform used as a source for large language models, creating an additional discovery channel for brands with a strong presence on the platform.
