YouTube continues to dominate the streaming landscape, reporting a 13% year-over-year increase in advertising revenue, as revealed in Alphabet’s Q2 2025 earnings report. The platform generated $9.8 billion in ad revenue for the quarter, up from $8.7 billion during the same period last year, slightly surpassing analysts’ projections of $9.6 billion.
YouTube has been steadily working to attract a larger share of television ad budgets, aligning with its rising popularity on connected TVs. According to Nielsen, YouTube has maintained the top spot in TV viewership for three consecutive months, recently capturing 12.4% of total TV viewing time — a clear sign of its expanding reach in traditional living room spaces.
In light of YouTube’s success, competing platforms such as HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video have intensified their advertising efforts to maintain pace. Netflix, too, has emerged as a notable contender, announcing plans during its recent earnings call to double its ad revenue by year’s end. While Netflix hasn’t publicly disclosed its ad earnings, estimates by Madison & Wall place the figure around $3 billion.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, posted strong overall performance for the quarter, with total revenue reaching $96.4 billion — a 13% increase compared to the same period last year.
