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Impressive Q2 results for Alphabet: Google's search and YouTube ad revenues fuel substantial growth, highlighting the company's strategic focus on high-growth areas.

Companies generally use other platforms for influencer marketing that tend to be more successful, such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Twitch鈥檚 share of the livestreaming market is steadily declining鈥攇oing from 71% in 2023 to 61% in 2024, per Digiday鈥攖hough it is still by and far the leader in this market.

YouTube Shorts users are Veo 2鈥檚 secret weapon: While Google is aiming for enterprises with Veo 2, content creators are training its video-generation AI to improve outputs. YouTube Shorts integrates Veo 2 into its Dream Screen feature, accessible to users to generate backgrounds and standalone video clips at scale.

YouTube Premium will have more than that (48.6 million), but it鈥檚 not clear how many of those subscribers are using the service for audio purposes along with their general YouTube viewing. Subscription fees are rising across the board. Spotify, YouTube Music Premium, and regular YouTube Premium鈥攚hich includes the premium music tier鈥攁ll raised their subscription fees in July 2023.

Following three consecutive quarters of ad revenue losses, YouTube faces an urgent need to restore growth. This could present marketers using YouTube with opportunities to target audiences on both connected TVs and smartphones.

We also expect US social video ad spending to surpass linear TV ad spending for the first time next year (both estimates exclude YouTube). Predictions. LinkedIn could push live video. It鈥檚 a more fitting format than short video for some professional content, such as webinars. YouTube Shorts will have its moment.

Roku soars ahead in Q2: The platform is second only to Hulu and YouTube in CTV ad spending. Its earnings revealed interesting findings about viewing habits.

While streaming services are leaning into live sports and original content, YouTube remains the go-to platform for digital video. It shattered records with $50 billion in annual revenues, combining ad sales and subscription growth. YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket are cementing YouTube鈥檚 presence in premium content. But consumers are showing signs of fatigue with subscription-based streaming services.

CapCut also offers high-quality exports that do not have a watermark, making it a useful tool for videos to be posted on LinkedIn, Reels, or YouTube Shorts. Edits is Instagram鈥檚 upcoming answer to CapCut. It's a standalone video-editing app the platform will release at the end of March.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what was behind Google performing so well in Q2, why YouTube is doing so well, and ranking the impact of AI at the search giant. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson and analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf.

Greener pastures: Creators have diversified to Snapchat, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels, mostly because of their familiar endless scroll interfaces and identical vertical video formats. To capitalize on that transition, YouTube is making it easier to repost TikTok videos with its Inspiration Elements feature.

TikTok and YouTube Shorts are central to ad extensions, with brands like HexClad and Instacart building second-screen engagement through interactive content. E.l.f. Beauty is bypassing traditional ads, opting for a Super Bowl livestream across TikTok, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube, offering giveaways and interactive elements to keep fans engaged throughout the game.

Some of the most prominent social media companies鈥攊ncluding X, Meta, YouTube, and TikTok鈥攁re relying on their users to flag violative and potentially misleading content. While those and other platforms continue to use moderation teams and automated systems, community-based efforts are becoming the norm for lower-severity violations.

Search and YouTube remain dominant ad platforms: Despite rising competition, YouTube ad revenues grew 14% YoY, reinforcing its role as a must-buy platform for advertisers. The strength of Search and YouTube ads suggests that Google鈥檚 ad business remains quite resilient.

YouTube is increasingly becoming a TV-set and TV-like experience. The TV set accounted for 34% of YouTube viewing last year versus 29% in 2022, per the Ofcom report. Much of that viewing is akin to traditional TV content鈥攕ome broadcasters themselves are seeing huge growth in their YouTube channels. And advertising is following suit, with 30-second unskippable ads increasingly common on the platform.

Streaming is dominating US viewership, accounting for 43.8% of total viewing time, per Nielsen, and most of the time spent streaming is coming from YouTube and Netflix. Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels are showing promise, with broadcasting media company MediaCo noting 18% YoY growth in its FAST viewer base. AI-powered tools are transforming marketing.

Last week, YouTube reported that ad revenues were up 13% YoY to $8.7 billion and connected TV (CTV) views grew 130%, demonstrating the platform鈥檚 massive potential for advertisers. Between Shorts, YouTube鈥檚 flagship short videos that competes with TikTok and Instagram Reels, and its foray into CTV, YouTube is central to digital advertising. Here are five charts demonstrating just how big YouTube鈥檚 reach is.

Only 3% of global technology marketers think Reddit delivers the best organic value as a social media platform, per CMI, compared with 93% for LinkedIn and 24% for YouTube. Making it easier for companies to set up ad profiles could help it capitalize on SMB interest and attract new customers.

YouTube has quietly developed a strong subscription business. Although YouTube is usually used as a free service monetized through ads, it says its YouTube Music and Premium services now have more than 100 million subscribers worldwide. In February 2024, YouTube shared that YouTube TV had surpassed 8 million subscribers in the US.

Google and YouTube will combine to bring Alphabet over $200 billion, a new advertising milestone. After Apple and Kuaishou joined the $10 billion club last year, the current corporate top 10 list should hold steady through 2026.

Meta argues that it鈥檚 not a monopoly, that those acquisitions fueled its growth, and that it faces strong competition from players like YouTube, TikTok, X, Apple, and more. If the court agrees with the FTC, a separate trial could force Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. Looking back: When Meta purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, the app only had about 30 million users.

Just 9.7% of Gen Zers consider Instagram their 鈥済o-to鈥� social platform for search, per our research, compared with 23.1% for TikTok and 34% for YouTube. An edge for influencers too: But Instagram isn鈥檛 just fighting to offer the best social search鈥攊t also needs to help creators maximize their reach and income to keep them posting.

Ads go live on Netflix and Disney+, YouTube ad revenues decline, and streaming services get creative about financing content production.