YouTube for Marketers Explainer

Contextualizing the $40 Billion Advertising Opportunity

Report by Bill Fisher  | UPDATED: Apr 3, 2025
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
There’s a disconnect between YouTube’s scale and advertising reach
Which media have been most affected by YouTube, and what does that mean for marketers?
Sources
Media Gallery
About This Report
YouTube has more users than Facebook, Netflix, or Spotify. But its advertising revenues do not match its vast reach. This report contextualizes the opportunities and scope for growth in various media spheres.
Topics
Digital Video Ad Spending
Digital Advertising
Digital Ad Spending
Worldwide
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
There’s a disconnect between YouTube’s scale and advertising reach
Which media have been most affected by YouTube, and what does that mean for marketers?
Sources
Media Gallery

YouTube is the biggest media platform in the world—digital or otherwise. But it straddles many different media and is thus many things to many people. Therefore, its advertising potential does not match its vast reach. But it’s continuing to disrupt multiple media.

Key Question: How should brands capitalize on the YouTube opportunity?

YouTube's Audience Trumps All Others Across Many Media Categories (billions of users worldwide, by select platforms, 2025)
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Key Stat: YouTube’s 2.50 billion monthly active users worldwide outnumber those on all other digital platforms despite being unavailable in China, the biggest market in the world.

This report can help you:

  • Develop media strategy and allocate budget for campaigns (brands and agencies)
  • Develop go-to-market strategy and showcase opportunities to customers (media platforms, agencies, and solution providers)

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Table of Contents

  1. Executive Summary
  2. There’s a disconnect between YouTube’s scale and advertising reach
  1. Which media have been most affected by YouTube, and what does that mean for marketers?
  2. Sources
  1. Media Gallery

Charts in This Report

YouTube's Audience Trumps All Others Across Many Media Categories (billions of users worldwide, by select platforms, 2025)YouTube's Ad Revenues Have Skyrocketed in the Past 10 Years (billions in YouTube gross ad revenues worldwide, 2015-2025)
Many Companies Have Overtaken YouTube for Global Ad Revenue Share in the Past 10 Years (% of digital ad revenues worldwide, by select companies, 2015-2025)"Planet YouTube" Has Pulled Many Media Into Its Orbit, Disrupting These Segments Along the Way
YouTube Has More CTV Viewers Than the Total Viewers of Any Video Platform Except Netflix (millions of US monthly viewers, by platform, 2025)YouTube Shorts Viewers Already Outnumber TikTok Users, and the Gap Will Widen (millions of US YouTube Shorts viewers vs. TikTok users, 2024-2028)
YouTube Viewers Accounted for a Large Chunk of Summer Olympic Engagement (% of total number of people who engaged with Paris Olympic content worldwide, by platform/channel, July-Aug 2024)How YouTube Shopping Collections Have Impacted Marketing Efforts of Marketers Worldwide, Aug 2024 (% of respondents)

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First Published on Apr 2, 2025

authors

Bill Fisher

Contributors

Jasmine Enberg
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Chris Keating
Heather Sprung
Senior Editor
Sakina Thanawala
Copy Editor
Matt Torpey
Senior Chart Editor
Paul Verna
VP, Content