After nearly a decade, YouTube is still not profitable

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Feb 2015 11:19 User comments (11)

According to sources, YouTube is still not profitable, despite being owned by Google for nearly a decade.

Thanks to Google's new push for premium ads, revenue for the site increased by 25 percent to $4 billion in 2014, but profits were still elusive.

Google says most of their traffic comes directly from YouTube.com or from their mobile apps, but the sources claimed differently, saying a majority of the traffic comes from embedded videos or from links on social media, for example.

Additionally, the audience is very narrow and is dominated by younger people. One source estimates 'that 9% of viewers account for 85% of online-video views,' a staggering figure. Even YouTube's CEO admitted that he had never heard of YouTube star PewDiePie (who has 35 million followers) until he became CEO at the company.

It will be interesting to see the next steps for YouTube in its long road to profits.

Source:
WSJ

Tags: Google YouTube

<Netflix adds new original kids programming including 'Inspector Gadget' reboot >Lenovo site defaced by Lizard Squad

11 user comments

126.2.2015 01:16

ZippyDSM

Send private message to this user

AfterDawn Addict

Mainly because the copyright system works based off backroom deals and money up front. Heaven forbid they break stuff down on profit and or revenue and split the pennies the fans are generating in bulk......

226.2.2015 09:08

Ryberg360

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Also, they pay people who have the dumbest channels. Just because America likes to watch people getting kicked in the balls and eat an awful amount of food in a set amount of time

326.2.2015 09:16

ZippyDSM

Send private message to this user

AfterDawn Addict

Originally posted by Ryberg360:
Also, they pay people who have the dumbest channels. Just because America likes to watch people getting kicked in the balls and eat an awful amount of food in a set amount of time

I like my channel dammit :P

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 26 Feb 2015 @ 9:29

426.2.2015 10:12

Interestx

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

Accountancy statistic-babble & fodder for tax-dodging write-offs.

Google is profitable to the tune of $.3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2014 ('only') an increase of 2.9% on the previous year.

Just because so many huge corporations keep sub-dividing & hiving off some of their operations so that they stand semi-autonomously is no reason to lose sight of the over-all picture.

526.2.2015 16:30

xnonsuchx

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

Not being profitable didn't stop Vonage or TiVo.

627.2.2015 06:15

qazwiz

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

Originally posted by Interestx:

Google is profitable to the tune of $.3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2014 ('only') an increase of 2.9% on the previous year.

but Google has to pay the debts of Youtube therefore if they didnt own youtube their profit would be much much more

but the article isn't about Google, it's about the money sinkhole called Youtube

727.2.2015 14:16

chefdamo

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

it's right they do it to off set the taxes.To make more money don't mean you will have more money unless you make enough money to off set the taxes and come out ahead. every big company who owns multiple companies does this of get out of paying the tax they really should be paying. it's like ABC trading as 123 and the same person with another company buying it under cba. it' all to get out of paying tax

827.2.2015 20:59

qazwiz

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

Originally posted by chefdamo:
it's right they do it to off set the taxes.To make more money don't mean you will have more money unless you make enough money to off set the taxes and come out ahead. every big company who owns multiple companies does this of get out of paying the tax they really should be paying. it's like ABC trading as 123 and the same person with another company buying it under cba. it' all to get out of paying tax

the false premise here is claiming losses better than taxes....
Supreme court has established that taxes cannot exceed the assets they are based on (IRS tried to collect more than 100% as death taxes) so if Youtube even broke even Google would have had better profits. taxes would have been more too but since taxes are not 100% the extra over taxes would be more (Net Profit)

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 27 Feb 2015 @ 9:00

91.3.2015 00:20

polarys425

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Originally posted by chefdamo:
it's right they do it to off set the taxes.To make more money don't mean you will have more money unless you make enough money to off set the taxes and come out ahead. every big company who owns multiple companies does this of get out of paying the tax they really should be paying. it's like ABC trading as 123 and the same person with another company buying it under cba. it' all to get out of paying tax

I really get a kick out of people who think companies would rather lose several million dollars, than pay taxes on that several million. No wonder people like Obama get elected.

101.3.2015 06:35

voyager

Send private message to this user

Member

Maybe because they erase the videos the tells and show the truth of this world.

111.3.2015 18:56

MagengarZ

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Originally posted by Ryberg360:
Also, they pay people who have the dumbest channels. Just because America likes to watch people getting kicked in the balls and eat an awful amount of food in a set amount of time

If that were true, I'd be a rich man by now.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

	VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31) VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times. 1 user comment
	Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09) Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier. 8 user comments
	Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19) Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
	Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38) Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028. 5 user comments
	How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25) The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. .... 18 user comments

	Windows 11: Check if TPM is enabled on your computer In this short guide we will look at how you can check the status of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on your PC ahead of the coming launch of Windows 11.
	HOWTO: Install Netflix App on rooted Android device 'This app is no longer compatible with your device. Contact the developers for more info.' If you are getting this message from Google Play when trying to install Netflix, then maybe this little guide can help you.
	HOWTO: Boot Android device into Safe Mode Are you having trouble with your Android device? If you find that your device has become sluggish, is freezing, takes too long to boot or any of a host of other performance concerns, you may want to boot into Safe Mode.
	What IP rating for dust and water resistance means An IP classification (such as IP68) is given to mobile phones, Bluetooth speakers, and other devices, but what do these classifications mean? 1 user comment
	Guide: Is Your Wi-Fi Sluggish or Slow? Here's How to Fix Do you have problems with you Wi-Fi? Slow connection or is it cutting off constantly? This guide aims to remedy these problems. 1 user comment

After nearly a decade, YouTube is still not profitable

11 user comments

Latest news

Reviews

Guides

News archive

Subscribe

Sections:

Follow us:

	Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
	Review: Samsung Jet Bot 90 AI+ - a high-end robot vacuum cleaner Samsung's Jet Bot 90 AI+ is a top-class robot vacuum cleaner that can avoid obstacles and empty its own dust container. Here we review the product. 1 user comment
	Samsung Jet Bot 80+ review - excellent robot vacuum cleaner We review Samsung's Jet Bot 80+ robot vacuum cleaner over a period of three months. 1 user comment