View source for YouTube

{{Short description|Video-sharing and social media platform}}
{{For|the company's channel on YouTube|YouTube (YouTube channel)}}
{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox website
| name = YouTube
| logo = {{dark mode switch|[[File:YouTube 2024 (white text).svg|frameless|250px]]|[[File:YouTube 2024.svg|upright=1.1|frameless|250px]]|version of logo}}
| logo_caption = Logo used since October 2024
| logo_alt = The YouTube logo is made of a red round-rectangular box with a white triangular "play" button inside and the word "YouTube" written in black.
| screenshot = File:Youtube interface, showing search results of Burger Recipe.png
| screenshot_size = 280px
| caption = YouTube search results, May 2025
| company_type = [[Subsidiary]]
| type = [[Online video platform]], [[social media platform]]
| founded = {{start date and age|2005|2|14}}
| location = 901 Cherry Avenue<br />[[San Bruno, California]]
| country = United States
| area_served = Worldwide (except [[censorship of YouTube|blocked countries]])
| owner = [[Alphabet Inc.]]
| founder = {{ubl|[[Steve Chen]]|[[Chad Hurley]]|[[Jawed Karim]]}}
| key_people = {{ubl|[[Neal Mohan]] (CEO)|Chad Hurley (advisor)}}
| industry = {{ubl|[[Internet]]|[[Video hosting service]]}}
| products = {{ubl||[[YouTube Kids]]|[[YouTube Music]]|[[YouTube Premium]]|[[YouTube Shorts]]|[[YouTube TV]]}}
| revenue = {{increase}} {{USD|31.5}}{{nbsp}}billion (2023)<ref name="Weprin">{{cite web |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=February 1, 2022 |title=YouTube Ad Revenue Tops $8.6B, Beating Netflix in the Quarter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/youtube-ad-revenue-tops-8-6b-beating-netflix-in-the-quarter-1235085391/|access-date=June 11, 2022|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608081933/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/youtube-ad-revenue-tops-8-6b-beating-netflix-in-the-quarter-1235085391/|url-status=live }}</ref>
| parent = [[Google|Google LLC]] (2006–present)
| url = {{URL|https://youtube.com/}}
| ipv6 = Yes
| content_license = Uploader holds copyright (standard license); [[Creative Commons]] can be selected.
| programming_language = [[Python (programming language)|Python]] (core/API),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Claburn |first1=Thomas |title=Google's Grumpy code makes Python Go |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/05/googles_grumpy_makes_python_go/ |website=The Register |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en |date=January 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214142433/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/05/googles_grumpy_makes_python_go/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[C (programming language)|C]] (through [[CPython]]), [[C++]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]] (through [[Google Guice|Guice]] platform),<ref>{{cite web|title=Guice Deuce |url=https://googlecode.blogspot.no/2009/05/guice-deuce.html |website=Official Google Code Blog|first=Jesse |last=Wilson|archive-date=March 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326225735/http://googlecode.blogspot.no/2009/05/guice-deuce.html |url-status=live|date=May 19, 2009 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://highscalability.com/blog/2008/3/12/youtube-architecture.html |title=YouTube Architecture |publisher=High Scalability|archive-date=October 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004091618/http://highscalability.com/blog/2008/3/12/youtube-architecture.html|url-status=dead|access-date=October 13, 2014}}</ref> [[Go (programming language)|Go]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Golang Vitess: a database wrapper written in Go as used by Youtube |website=[[GitHub]] |url=https://github.com/youtube/vitess |date=October 23, 2018 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-date=January 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130213332/https://github.com/youtube/vitess |url-status=live }}</ref> [[JavaScript]] (UI)
| advertising = [[Google AdSense]]
| registration = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle      = font-weight:normal; text-align:left; background-color:transparent; color: inherit;
| title           = Optional
| Not required to watch most videos; required for certain tasks such as uploading videos, viewing flagged (18+) videos, creating playlists, liking or disliking videos, and posting comments
}}
| users = {{decrease}} 2.7{{nbsp}}billion [[Monthly active user|MAU]] (January 2024)<ref name="forbes-stats">{{Cite web |last=Wong |first=Belle |date=May 18, 2023 |title=Top Social Media Statistics And Trends Of 2023 – Forbes Advisor |url=https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614094637/http://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/ |archive-date=June 14, 2023 |access-date=June 15, 2023 |website=Forbes}}</ref><!--2.562=2022-->
| launched = {{start date and age|2005|04|23}}
| current_status = Active
}}

'''YouTube''' <!-- Do not add informal or colloquial names, abbreviations, or other terms of the sort here --> is an American [[social media]] and [[online video platform|online video sharing]] platform owned by [[Google]]. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by [[Steve Chen]], [[Chad Hurley]], and [[Jawed Karim]], who were former employees of [[PayPal]]. Headquartered in [[San Bruno, California]], it is the [[List of most-visited websites|second-most-visited website]] in the world, after [[Google Search]]. In January 2024, YouTube had more than 2.7{{nbsp}}billion [[monthly active user]]s, who collectively watched more than one billion hours of videos every day.<ref name="1 billion hours">{{cite web|title=You know what's cool? A billion hours |url=https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/you-know-whats-cool-billion-hours|last1=Goodrow |first1=Cristos|date=February 27, 2017|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806062438/https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/you-know-whats-cool-billion-hours/|via=YouTube |language=en-US|archive-date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=April 19, 2021 }}</ref> {{as of |May 2019}}, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of [[Content (media)|content]] per minute,<ref name="500 hours per minute">{{cite news |title=More Than 500 Hours Of Content Are Now Being Uploaded To YouTube Every Minute |work=[[TubeFilter]] |location=Los Angeles, CA |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/05/07/number-hours-video-uploaded-to-youtube-per-minute/ |last1=Loke Hale |first1=James|access-date=June 10, 2019 |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105143621/https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/05/07/number-hours-video-uploaded-to-youtube-per-minute/ |url-status=live|date=May 7, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Neufeld |first=Dorothy |date=January 27, 2021 |title=The 50 Most Visited Websites in the World |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-50-most-visited-websites-in-the-world/ |access-date=December 6, 2021 |website=Visual Capitalist |language=en-US |archive-date=December 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210024145/https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-50-most-visited-websites-in-the-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and {{As of|2024|alt=as of mid-2024}}, there were approximately 14.8{{nbsp}}billion videos in total.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Germain |first=Thomas |date=February 13, 2025 |title=How a computer that 'drunk dials' videos is exposing YouTube's secrets |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250213-youtube-at-20-a-computer-that-drunk-dials-online-videos-reveals-statistics-that-google-doesnt-want-you-to-know |access-date=February 13, 2025 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

<!-- History -->On November 13, 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google for US$1.65&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=1.53|start_year=2006|r=2}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation year|index=US}}).<ref>{{cite news |last=Hooker |first=Lucy |date=February 1, 2016 |title=How did Google become the world's most valuable company? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-35460398 |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526191009/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-35460398 |url-status=live }}</ref> Google expanded YouTube's business model of generating revenue from [[Advertising|advertisements]] alone, to offering paid content such as movies and [[List of YouTube Premium original programming|exclusive content]] produced by and for YouTube. It also offers [[YouTube Premium]], a paid subscription option for watching content without ads. YouTube incorporated the [[Google AdSense]] program, generating more revenue for both YouTube and approved content creators. In 2023, YouTube's advertising revenue totaled $31.7{{nbsp}}billion, a 2% increase from the $31.1{{nbsp}}billion reported in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alphabet Q1 2024 Earnings Release |url=https://abc.xyz/assets/91/b3/3f9213d14ce3ae27e1038e01a0e0/2024q1-alphabet-earnings-release-pdf.pdf |website=Alphabet Investor Relations |access-date=November 1, 2024 }}</ref> From Q4 2023 to Q3 2024, YouTube's combined revenue from advertising and subscriptions exceeded $50{{nbsp}}billion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Google CFO Discusses YouTube's Advertising and Subscription Revenue |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/google-cfo-analysts-ai-subscription-growth-2024-9 |website=Business Insider |access-date=November 1, 2024 }}</ref>

<!-- Content and operations -->Since its purchase by Google, YouTube has expanded beyond the core website into [[mobile app]]s, network television, and the [[Interoperability|ability to link]] with other platforms. Video categories on YouTube include [[music video]]s, [[digital video|video clips]], [[news]], [[short film|short]] and [[feature film]]s, [[songs]], [[documentary film|documentaries]], [[trailer (promotion)|movie trailers]], [[teaser (trailer)|teasers]], [[Television advertisement|TV spots]], [[live stream]]s, [[vlog]]s, and more. Most content is [[user-generated content|generated by individuals]], including collaborations between "[[YouTuber]]s" and corporate sponsors. Established media, news, and entertainment corporations have also created and expanded their visibility to YouTube channels to reach bigger audiences.

<!-- Impact and reception -->YouTube has had [[Social impact of YouTube|unprecedented social impact]], influencing popular culture, internet trends, and creating multimillionaire celebrities. Despite its growth and success, the platform has been criticized for its facilitation of the spread of [[misinformation]] and [[YouTube copyright issues|copyrighted content]], [[YouTube and privacy|routinely violating its users' privacy]], [[Censorship by YouTube|excessive censorship]], endangering [[child protection|the safety of children and their well-being]], and for its inconsistent implementation of platform guidelines.

{{TOC limit|3}}

== History<span class="anchor" id="Company history"></span><span class="anchor" id="Website history"></span> ==
{{Main|History of YouTube}}{{See also|Timeline of online video}}

=== Founding and initial growth (2005–2006) ===
[[File:Youtube founders.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|From left to right: [[Chad Hurley]], [[Steve Chen]], and [[Jawed Karim]], the founders of YouTube]]

YouTube was founded by [[Steve Chen]], [[Chad Hurley]], and [[Jawed Karim]]. The trio were early employees of [[PayPal]], which left them enriched after the company was bought by [[eBay]].<ref name="Jackpot" /> Hurley had studied design at the [[Indiana University of Pennsylvania]], and Chen and Karim studied [[computer science]] together at the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]].<ref>{{cite web |date=October 11, 2006 |title=YouTube founders now superstars |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/youtube-founders-now-superstars-20061011-gdokrc.html |access-date=March 18, 2021 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413152749/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/youtube-founders-now-superstars-20061011-gdokrc.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a story that has often been repeated in the media, Hurley and Chen developed the idea for YouTube during the early months of 2005, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen's apartment in [[San Francisco]]. Karim did not attend the party and denied that it had occurred, but Chen remarked that the idea that YouTube was founded after a dinner party "was probably very strengthened by marketing ideas around creating a story that was very digestible".<ref name="YouTube gurus">{{cite magazine |last=Cloud |first=John |date=December 25, 2006 |title=The YouTube Gurus |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570795,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=March 26, 2017 |archive-date=May 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516152014/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570795,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Karim said the inspiration for YouTube came from the [[Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy]] when [[Janet Jackson]]'s breast was briefly exposed by [[Justin Timberlake]] during the halftime show. Karim could not easily find video clips of the incident and the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 Indian Ocean tsunami]] online, which led to the idea of a video-sharing site.<ref>{{cite web|title=Surprise! There's a third YouTube co-founder |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-11-youtube-karim_x.htm |website=[[USA Today]]|first=Jim |last=Hopkins|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004011143/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-11-youtube-karim_x.htm |url-status=live |archive-date=October 4, 2012 |date=October 11, 2006|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McAlone |first1=Nathan |title=Here's how Janet Jackson's infamous 'nipplegate' inspired the creation of YouTube |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/idea-for-youtube-came-from-janet-jackson-nipplegate-2015-10 |access-date=April 13, 2024 |work=Business Insider|archive-date=April 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418131048/https://www.businessinsider.com/idea-for-youtube-came-from-janet-jackson-nipplegate-2015-10 |url-status=live|date=October 2, 2015}}</ref> Hurley and Chen said that the original idea for YouTube was a video version of an [[online dating service]] and had been influenced by the website [[Hot or Not]].<ref name="YouTube gurus" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050428014715/https://www.youtube.com/ Earliest surviving version of the YouTube website] [[Wayback Machine]], April 28, 2005. Retrieved June 19, 2013.</ref> They created posts on [[Craigslist]] asking attractive women to upload videos of themselves to YouTube in exchange for a $100 reward.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAJEXUNmP5M |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/XAJEXUNmP5M |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |title=r p 2006: YouTube: From Concept to Hypergrowth – Jawed Karim |date=April 22, 2013 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Difficulty in finding enough dating videos led to a change of plans, with the site's founders deciding to accept uploads of any video.<ref>{{cite news|title=YouTube was meant to be a video-dating website|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/16/youtube-past-video-dating-website|first=Stuart |last=Dredge|work=The Guardian |date=March 16, 2016 |access-date=March 15, 2019 |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128200940/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/16/youtube-past-video-dating-website |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Youtube logo.jpg|thumb|The YouTube logo used from its launch until 2007. It returned in 2008 before being removed again in 2010. Another version without "Broadcast Yourself" was used until 2011.]]

YouTube began as a [[venture capital]]–funded technology [[startup company|startup]]. Between November 2005 and April 2006, the company raised money from various investors, with [[Sequoia Capital]] and Artis Capital Management being the largest two.<ref name="Jackpot">{{cite news |first1=Miguel |last1=Helft |first2=Matt |last2=Richtel |title=Venture Firm Shares a YouTube Jackpot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/technology/10payday.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 10, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|433418867}} |archive-date=March 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311122613/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/technology/10payday.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=San Francisco Hedge Fund Invested in YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/technology/12hedges.html |work=The New York Times|last1=Helft|first1=Miguel|volume=156|issue=53,730 |date=October 12, 2006 |id={{ProQuest|433422252}}|archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034144/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/technology/12hedges.html|url-status=live|access-date=September 8, 2018}}</ref> YouTube's early headquarters were situated above a pizzeria and a Japanese restaurant in [[San Mateo, California]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Sara |last=Kehaulani Goo |title=Ready for Its Close-Up |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600660.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402153534/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600660.html |url-status=live |archive-date=April 2, 2019 |date=October 7, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2017 }}</ref> In February 2005, the company activated <code>www.youtube.com</code>.<ref>{{cite web|title=Whois Record for <code>www.youtube.com</code> |url=https://whois.domaintools.com/youtube.com|publisher=DomainTools |archive-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402130611/http://whois.domaintools.com/youtube.com |url-status=live|access-date=April 1, 2009}}</ref> The first video was uploaded on April 23, 2005. Titled "[[Me at the zoo]]", it shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the [[San Diego Zoo]] and can still be viewed on the site.<ref>{{cite news|title=YouTube: Overnight success has sparked a backlash |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2480280/YouTube-Overnight-success-has-sparked-a-backlash.html|first=Richard |last=Alleyne|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2480280/YouTube-Overnight-success-has-sparked-a-backlash.html|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|website=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-date=January 10, 2022|date=July 31, 2008|access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=April 23, 2005 |title=Me at the zoo |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw |website=YouTube |last1=jawed |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/jNQXAC9IVRw |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=August 3, 2009 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> The same day, the company launched a public [[Software release life cycle|beta]] and by November, a Nike ad featuring [[Ronaldinho]] became the first video to reach one million total views.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hurley Declaration|url=https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//press/pdf/c_hurley_declaration.pdf|page=2|access-date=October 13, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=qRjsLUy72x4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126085739/https://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=qRjsLUy72x4 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 26, 2005 |title=Cross Bar |work=[[Wayback Machine]]|date=October 21, 2005|access-date=January 31, 2025}}</ref> The site exited out of beta in December 2005, by which time the site was receiving 8&nbsp;million views a day.<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube: a history |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/7596636/YouTube-a-history.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/7596636/YouTube-a-history.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=April 17, 2010 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Megan Rose |last=Dickey |title=The 22 Key Turning Points in the History of YouTube |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2 |website=[[Business Insider]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512055717/http://www.businessinsider.com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 12, 2017|date=February 15, 2013|access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref> Clips at the time were limited to 100 megabytes, as little as 30 seconds of footage.<ref>{{cite web|title=Video websites pop up, invite postings |date=November 21, 2005 |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-11-21-video-websites_x.htm|last=Graham|first=Jefferson |access-date=March 26, 2017 |website=[[USA Today]] |archive-date=April 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412064600/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-11-21-video-websites_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

YouTube was not the first video-sharing site on the Internet; [[Vimeo]] was founded in November 2004, though that site remained a side project of its developers from [[CollegeHumor]].<ref name="fortune vimeo">{{cite web|title=How Vimeo became hipster YouTube|url=https://fortune.com/2011/02/23/how-vimeo-became-hipster-youtube/|first=John Patrick|last=Pullen|date=February 23, 2011 |access-date=May 8, 2020 |work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108022616/https://fortune.com/2011/02/23/how-vimeo-became-hipster-youtube/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 17th, 2005 - the same week YouTube exited beta - NBCUniversal ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' ran a sketch "[[Lazy Sunday (The Lonely Island song)|Lazy Sunday]]" by [[The Lonely Island]]. Besides helping to bolster ratings and long-term viewership for ''Saturday Night Live'', "Lazy Sunday"'s status as an early [[viral video]] helped establish YouTube as an important website.<ref name="First Launched">{{cite web |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/heres-what-people-thought-of-youtube-when-it-first-laun-1832019272 |title=Here's What People Thought of YouTube When It First Launched in the Mid-2000s |first=Matt |last=Novak |date=February 14, 2020 |work=[[Gizmodo]] |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126210158/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/heres-what-people-thought-of-youtube-when-it-first-laun-1832019272 |url-status=live|access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> Unofficial uploads of the skit to YouTube drew in more than five million collective views by February 2006 before they were removed when [[NBCUniversal]] requested it two months later based on copyright concerns.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/business/media/a-video-clip-goes-viral-and-a-tv-network-wants-to-control-it.html |title=A Video Clip Goes Viral, and a TV Network Wants to Control It |first=John |last=Biggs |date=February 20, 2006 |access-date=February 14, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308130248/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/business/media/a-video-clip-goes-viral-and-a-tv-network-wants-to-control-it.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite eventually being taken down, these duplicate uploads of the skit helped popularize YouTube's reach and led to the upload of more third-party content.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/lazy-sunday-10th-anniversary-snl-1201657949/ |title='Lazy Sunday' Turns 10: 'SNL' Stars Recall How TV Invaded the Internet |first1=Andrew |last1=Wallenstein |first2=Todd |last2=Spangler |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214093508/https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/lazy-sunday-10th-anniversary-snl-1201657949/ |url-status=live |archive-date=December 14, 2020 |date=December 18, 2015 |access-date=April 27, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Hollywood Flashback: 'SNL's' 'Lazy Sunday' Put YouTube on the Map in 2005 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-flashback-snls-lazy-sunday-put-youtube-map-2005-1044829 |first=Bill |last=Higgens |date=October 5, 2017 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117164538/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-flashback-snls-lazy-sunday-put-youtube-map-2005-1044829 |url-status=live|access-date=April 27, 2019}}</ref> The site grew rapidly; in July 2006, the company announced that more than 65,000 new videos were being uploaded every day and that the site was receiving 100&nbsp;million video views per day.<ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube serves up 100{{nbsp}}million videos a day online|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-16-youtube-views_x.htm |website=[[USA Today]]|archive-date=December 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231004209/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-16-youtube-views_x.htm |url-status=live|date=July 16, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref>

The choice of the name <code>youtube.com</code> led to problems for a similarly named website, <code>utube.com</code>. That site's owner, [[Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment]], filed a lawsuit against YouTube in November 2006, after being regularly overloaded by people looking for YouTube. Universal Tube subsequently changed its website to <code>www.utubeonline.com</code>.<ref>{{cite news |title=Help! YouTube is killing my business! |last1=Zappone |first1=Christian |publisher=CNN |url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/12/news/companies/utube/index.htm |date=October 12, 2006|archive-date=January 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144540/https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/12/news/companies/utube/index.htm |url-status=live|access-date=November 29, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Utube sues YouTube |last1=Blakely |first1=Rhys |work=The Times |location=London |url=https://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article623050.ece |date=November 2, 2006 |archive-date=April 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403234216/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article623050.ece |url-status=dead|access-date=November 29, 2008}}</ref>

=== "Broadcast Yourself" era (2006–2013) ===
On October 9, 2006, [[Google]] announced that they had acquired YouTube for $1.65&nbsp;billion in Google stock.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google to buy YouTube for $1.65&nbsp;billion|url=https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/09/technology/googleyoutube_deal/|first=Paul R.|last=La Monica |website=[[CNNMoney]] |publisher=[[CNN]]|archive-date=March 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305094811/https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/09/technology/googleyoutube_deal/ |url-status=live|date=October 9, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Arrington |title=Google Has Acquired YouTube |url=https://techcrunch.com/2006/10/09/google-has-acquired-youtube/ |website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |date=October 9, 2006 |archive-date=March 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316024815/https://techcrunch.com/2006/10/09/google-has-acquired-youtube/ |url-status=live|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> The deal was finalized on November 13, 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Closes YouTube Acquisition |first=Michael |last=Arrington |url=https://techcrunch.com/2006/11/13/google-closes-youtube-acquisition/ |website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316024500/https://techcrunch.com/2006/11/13/google-closes-youtube-acquisition/ |url-status=live |archive-date=March 16, 2017|date=November 13, 2006|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Google closes $A2b YouTube deal |url=https://www.theage.com.au/news/Busness/Google-closes-A2b-YouTube-deal/2006/11/14/1163266548827.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220214911/https://www.theage.com.au/news/Busness/Google-closes-A2b-YouTube-deal/2006/11/14/1163266548827.html |website=[[The Age]] |date=November 14, 2006 |archive-date=December 20, 2007 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> Google's acquisition launched newfound interest in video-sharing sites; [[IAC (company)|IAC]], which now owned Vimeo, focused on supporting the content creators to distinguish itself from YouTube.<ref name="fortune vimeo" /> It is at this time YouTube issued the slogan "Broadcast Yourself".
The company experienced rapid growth. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' wrote that in 2007, YouTube consumed as much [[bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]] as the entire Internet in 2000.<ref>{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Lewis |date=April 7, 2008 |title=Web could collapse as video demand soars |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584230/Web-could-collapse-as-video-demand-soars.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584230/Web-could-collapse-as-video-demand-soars.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> By 2010, the company had reached a [[market share]] of around 43% and more than 14&nbsp;billion views of videos, according to [[comScore]].<ref>{{cite web |title=comScore Releases May 2010 U.S. Online Video Rankings |url=https://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/comScore_Releases_May_2010_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings |access-date=June 27, 2010 |publisher=[[comScore]] |archive-date=June 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626124554/http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/comScore_Releases_May_2010_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings |url-status=live }}</ref> That year, the company simplified its interface to increase the time users would spend on the site.<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube redesigns website to keep viewers captivated |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfGfKKsiwbxNv8XoUbm8ZlRZZWyw |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226120718/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfGfKKsiwbxNv8XoUbm8ZlRZZWyw |url-status=dead|access-date=April 1, 2010}}</ref> In 2011, more than three billion videos were being watched each day with 48 hours of new videos uploaded every minute.<ref>{{cite web|title=YouTube moves past 3&nbsp;billion views a day |url=https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/youtube-moves-past-3-billion-views-a-day/|publisher=[[CNET]] |archive-date=December 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206044204/https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/youtube-moves-past-3-billion-views-a-day/ |url-status=live|date=May 25, 2011|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bryant |first=Martin |date=May 25, 2011 |title=YouTube hits 3{{nbsp}}Billion views per day, 2 DAYS worth of video uploaded every minute |url=https://thenextweb.com/google/2011/05/25/youtube-hits-3-billion-views-per-day-2-days-worth-of-video-uploaded-every-minute/|website=The Next Web |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225051205/https://thenextweb.com/google/2011/05/25/youtube-hits-3-billion-views-per-day-2-days-worth-of-video-uploaded-every-minute/ |url-status=live|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="48-60">{{cite news |title=Exclusive: YouTube hits 4{{nbsp}}billion daily video views |work=Reuters|last=Oreskovic |first=Alexei |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-youtube-idUSTRE80M0TS20120123|archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308105444/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-youtube-idUSTRE80M0TS20120123 |url-status=live|date=January 23, 2012|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> However, most of these views came from a relatively small number of videos; according to a software engineer at that time, 30% of videos accounted for 99% of views on the site.<ref>{{cite news |title=Almost all YouTube views come from just 30% of films |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8464418/Almost-all-YouTube-views-come-from-just-30-of-films.html|last=Whitelaw |first=Ben |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8464418/Almost-all-YouTube-views-come-from-just-30-of-films.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|date=April 20, 2011|access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> That year, the company again changed its interface and at the same time, introduced a new logo with a darker shade of red.<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube's website redesign puts the focus on channels |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16006524 |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416164337/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16006524|url-status=live|date=December 2, 2011|access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cashmore |first1=Pete |title=YouTube Gets New Logo, Facelift and Trackbacks&nbsp;– Growing Fast! |website=[[Mashable]] |url=https://mashable.com/2006/10/26/youtube-gets-new-logo-facelift-and-trackbacks-growing-fast/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403122830/https://mashable.com/2006/10/26/youtube-gets-new-logo-facelift-and-trackbacks-growing-fast/ |url-status=live |date=October 26, 2006 |archive-date=April 3, 2019|access-date=December 2, 2011 }}</ref> A subsequent interface change, designed to unify the experience across desktop, TV, and mobile, was rolled out in 2013.<ref name="tnw-one">{{Cite news|title=Google Rolls Out Redesigned YouTube 'One Channel' Layout to All|url=https://thenextweb.com/news/youtube-rolls-out-redesigned-one-channel-layout-to-all-users|work=The Next Web|last=Protalinski |first=Emil |date=June 5, 2013|access-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523124430/https://thenextweb.com/news/youtube-rolls-out-redesigned-one-channel-layout-to-all-users |url-status=live }}</ref> By that point, more than 100 hours were being uploaded every minute, increasing to 300 hours by November 2014.<ref>{{cite web |last=Welch |first=Chris |title=YouTube users now upload 100 hours of video every minute |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/19/4345514/youtube-users-upload-100-hours-video-every-minute |access-date=March 26, 2017 |website=[[The Verge]] |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308194957/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/19/4345514/youtube-users-upload-100-hours-video-every-minute |url-status=live|date=May 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=E. Solsman |first=Joan |date=November 12, 2014 |title=YouTube's Music Key: Can paid streaming finally hook the masses? |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-music-key-googles-stab-at-taking-paid-streaming-songs-mainstream/|publisher=[[CNET]] |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308080226/https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-music-key-googles-stab-at-taking-paid-streaming-songs-mainstream/|url-status=live|access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref>
[[File:901 Cherry Avenue.jpg|thumb|YouTube's headquarters in [[San Bruno, California]], April 2017]]
During that time, the company also went through some organizational changes. In October 2006, YouTube moved to a new office in [[San Bruno, California]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The revolution wasn't televised: The early days of YouTube |url=https://mashable.com/2015/02/14/youtube-history/|website=[[Mashable]]|last1=Wasserman|first1=Todd|archive-date=February 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213052612/https://mashable.com/2015/02/14/youtube-history/|url-status=live |date=February 15, 2015|access-date=July 4, 2018 }}</ref> Hurley announced that he would be stepping down as chief executive officer of YouTube to take an advisory role and that [[Salar Kamangar]] would take over as head of the company in October 2010.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 29, 2010 |title=Hurley stepping down as YouTube chief executive |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ggtnJSISuXoPHgxu6HwPJJqVTT6g?docId=CNG.f7ff59e3829714d23524d35ed1afdd63.921 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226121025/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ggtnJSISuXoPHgxu6HwPJJqVTT6g?docId=CNG.f7ff59e3829714d23524d35ed1afdd63.921 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In December 2009, YouTube partnered with [[Vevo]].<ref>{{cite news |date=December 7, 2009 |title=Music Industry Companies Opening Video Site |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/media/08vevo.html |last1=Stelter |first1=Brian |id={{ProQuest|1029889187}} |access-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-date=August 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820162901/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/business/media/08vevo.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2010, Lady Gaga's "[[Bad Romance]]" became the [[List of most-viewed YouTube videos|most-viewed video]], becoming the first video to reach 200{{nbsp}}million views on May 9, 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bad Romance By Lady Gaga Becomes First YouTube Video To Hit 200{{nbsp}}Million Views|url=https://pulse2.com/bad-romance-by-lady-gaga-becomes-first-youtube-video-to-hit-200-million-views/|access-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-date=January 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101195642/https://pulse2.com/bad-romance-by-lady-gaga-becomes-first-youtube-video-to-hit-200-million-views/ |url-status=live|date=May 9, 2010 }}</ref>

YouTube [[Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.|faced a major lawsuit]] by [[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom International]] in 2011 that nearly resulted in the discontinuation of the website. The lawsuit was filed due to alleged [[copyright infringement]] of Viacom's material by YouTube. However, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] ruled that YouTube was not liable, and thus YouTube won the case in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McSherry |first=Corynne |date=April 5, 2012 |title=Viacom v. Google: A Decision at Last, and It's Mostly Good (for the Internet and Innovation) |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/viacom-v-google-decision |access-date=May 5, 2024 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |language=en |archive-date=May 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505223149/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/viacom-v-google-decision |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Susan Wojcicki's leadership (2014–2023) ===
[[File:Logo of YouTube (2015-2017).svg|thumb|YouTube logo from 2015 until 2017]]
[[Susan Wojcicki]] was appointed [[chief executive officer|CEO]] of YouTube in February 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Google taps longtime executive Wojcicki to head YouTube|work=Reuters |url=https://in.reuters.com/article/us-google-youtube/google-taps-longtime-executive-wojcicki-to-head-youtube-idINBREA141Y420140205|last=Oreskovic|first=Alexei|access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916183049/http://in.reuters.com/article/us-google-youtube/google-taps-longtime-executive-wojcicki-to-head-youtube-idINBREA141Y420140205|url-status=dead|date=February 5, 2014}}</ref> In January 2016, YouTube expanded its headquarters in San Bruno by purchasing an office park for $215&nbsp;million. The complex has 51,468 square metres (554,000 square feet) of space and can house up to 2,800 employees.<ref name="office_park">{{cite news |last=Avalos |first=George |date=January 20, 2016 |title=YouTube expansion in San Bruno signals big push by video site |work=Mercury News |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_29405413/youtube-expansion-san-bruno-signals-big-push-by |access-date=February 3, 2016 |archive-date=January 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122103350/http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_29405413/youtube-expansion-san-bruno-signals-big-push-by |url-status=live }}</ref> YouTube officially launched the "polymer" redesign of its user interfaces based on [[Material Design]] language as its default, as well as a redesigned logo that is built around the service's play button emblem in August 2017.<ref>{{cite news|title=YouTube has a new look and, for the first time, a new logo |work=The Verge |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16216868/new-youtube-logo-redesign-font-color-app-design|last=Popper |first=Ben |access-date=May 7, 2018 |archive-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106091346/https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16216868/new-youtube-logo-redesign-font-color-app-design |url-status=live|date=August 29, 2017 }}</ref>

Through this period, YouTube tried several new ways to generate revenue beyond advertisements. In 2013, YouTube launched a pilot program for content providers to offer premium, subscription-based channels.<ref name="subscription">{{cite news|title=YouTube launches pay-to-watch subscription channels|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22474715|work=[[BBC News]] |date=May 9, 2013|archive-date=April 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410082148/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22474715 |url-status=live|access-date=May 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23184159/youtube-providers-could-begin-charging-fees-this-week |title=YouTube providers could begin charging fees this week |last=Nakaso |first=Dan |work=[[San Jose Mercury News|Mercury News]] |date=May 7, 2013 |access-date=May 10, 2013 |archive-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312084711/http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23184159/youtube-providers-could-begin-charging-fees-this-week |url-status=live }}</ref> This effort was discontinued in January 2018 and relaunched in June, with US$4.99 channel subscriptions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paid content discontinued January 1, 2018 – YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7515570?hl=en |access-date=April 19, 2021 |publisher=Google Inc. |archive-date=April 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419185440/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7515570?hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Browne |first=Ryan |date=June 22, 2018 |title=YouTube introduces paid subscriptions and merchandise selling in bid to help creators monetize the platform |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/youtube-introduces-paid-channel-subscriptions-and-merchandise-selling.html |publisher=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307214316/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/youtube-introduces-paid-channel-subscriptions-and-merchandise-selling.html |url-status=live|access-date=April 19, 2021}}</ref> These channel subscriptions complemented the existing Super Chat ability, launched in 2017, which allows viewers to donate between $1 and $500 to have their comment highlighted.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Laura |date=April 12, 2017 |title=A Chat With a Live Streamer Is Yours, for a Price |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/technology/personaltech/paying-for-live-stream-chat.html|archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011619/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/technology/personaltech/paying-for-live-stream-chat.html |url-status=live|access-date=April 21, 2018}}</ref> In 2014, YouTube announced a subscription service known as "Music Key", which bundled ad-free streaming of music content on YouTube with the existing [[Google Play Music]] service.<ref>{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Casey |date=November 12, 2014 |title=YouTube announces plans for a subscription music service |work=The Verge |url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7201969/youtube-music-key-new-subscription-service|archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308192132/https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7201969/youtube-music-key-new-subscription-service |url-status=live|access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref> The service continued to evolve in 2015 when YouTube announced [[YouTube Red]], a new premium service that would offer ad-free access to all content on the platform (succeeding the Music Key service released the previous year), premium original series, and films produced by YouTube personalities, as well as background playback of content on mobile devices. YouTube also released [[YouTube Music]], a third app oriented towards streaming and discovering the music content hosted on the YouTube platform.<ref name="Youtubered">{{cite web|title=Google wants you to pay $9.99 per month for ad-free YouTube |url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/10/21/google-wants-you-to-pay-9-99-per-month-for-ad-free-youtube/|last1=Reader|first1=Ruth|website=Venturebeat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308075506/https://venturebeat.com/2015/10/21/google-wants-you-to-pay-9-99-per-month-for-ad-free-youtube/ |url-status=live|archive-date=March 8, 2021|date=October 21, 2015|access-date=October 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 21, 2015 |title=Exclusive: An inside look at the new ad-free YouTube Red |language=en-US |work=The Verge |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9566973/youtube-red-ad-free-offline-paid-subscription-service|last=Popper |first=Ben|archive-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404133500/https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9566973/youtube-red-ad-free-offline-paid-subscription-service |url-status=live|access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Engadget-ytmusic">{{cite web|title=YouTube Music isn't perfect, but it's still heaven for music nerds|url=https://www.engadget.com/2015/11/12/youtube-music-app-hands-on/|website=Engadget.com |date=November 12, 2015|last=Ingraham |first=Nathan|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022054/https://www.engadget.com/2015-11-12-youtube-music-app-hands-on.html |url-status=live|access-date=November 7, 2016}}</ref>

The company also attempted to create products appealing to specific viewers. YouTube released a mobile app known as [[YouTube Kids]] in 2015, which was designed to provide an experience optimized for children. It features a simplified user interface, curated selections of channels featuring age-appropriate content, and parental control features.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hands on With "YouTube Kids," Google's Newly Launched, Child-Friendly YouTube App |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/23/hands-on-with-youtube-kids-googles-newly-launched-child-friendly-youtube-app/|first=Sarah |last=Perez|website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]]|date=February 23, 2015|archive-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626223616/https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/23/hands-on-with-youtube-kids-googles-newly-launched-child-friendly-youtube-app/ |url-status=live|access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> Also in 2015, YouTube launched YouTube Gaming—a [[video gaming]]-oriented vertical and app for videos and live streaming, intended to compete with the [[Amazon.com]]-owned [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Google launches YouTube Gaming to challenge Amazon-owned Twitch |work=The Guardian |first=Stuart |last=Dredge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/26/youtube-gaming-live-website-apps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906044745/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/26/youtube-gaming-live-website-apps |url-status=live|archive-date=September 6, 2015|date=August 26, 2015|access-date=September 5, 2015 }}</ref> The company was attacked in April 2018, when [[2018 YouTube headquarters shooting|a shooting]] occurred at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California, which wounded four and resulted in the death of the shooter.<ref name="shooting">{{cite news |date=April 4, 2018 |title=YouTube shooting: Suspect visited shooting range before attack |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43645812 |access-date=April 9, 2018 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308085103/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43645812 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By February 2017, one billion hours of YouTube videos were being watched every day, and 400 hours worth of videos were uploaded every minute.<ref name="1 billion hours" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Lumb |first=David |date=February 27, 2017 |title=One billion hours of YouTube are watched every day |url=https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/27/youtube-one-billion-hours-watched-daily/ |access-date=March 26, 2017 |website=[[Engadget]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |archive-date=May 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525081426/https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/27/youtube-one-billion-hours-watched-daily/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two years later, the uploads had risen to more than 500 hours per minute.<ref name="500 hours per minute" /> During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], when most of the world was under [[stay-at-home order]]s, usage of services like YouTube significantly increased. Forbes estimated that YouTube accounted for 16% of all [[internet traffic]], {{As of|2024|lc=y}}, up from 11% in 2018 i.e. pre-pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/katharinabuchholz/2025/04/25/youtube-responsible-for-16-of-global-internet-traffic/|title=YouTube Responsible For 16% Of Global Internet Traffic|first=Katharina|last=Buchholz|website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rabbit Hole, episode Eight: 'We Go All' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/podcasts/rabbit-hole-qanon-youtube-tiktok-virus.html|last=Rouse |first=Kevin |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512060158/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/podcasts/rabbit-hole-qanon-youtube-tiktok-virus.html |url-status=live|date=June 4, 2020|access-date=May 10, 2021}}</ref> In response to EU officials requesting that such services reduce bandwidth as to make sure medical entities had sufficient bandwidth to share information, YouTube and [[Netflix]] said they would reduce streaming quality for at least thirty days as to cut bandwidth use of their services by 25% to comply with the EU's request.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gold |first=Hadas |date=March 19, 2020 |title=Netflix and YouTube are slowing down in Europe to keep the internet from breaking |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/tech/netflix-internet-overload-eu/index.html|publisher=[[CNN]] |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128181816/https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/tech/netflix-internet-overload-eu/index.html |url-status=live|access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref> YouTube later announced that they would continue with this move worldwide: "We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation."<ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube is reducing the quality of videos for the next month — and it's because increased traffic amid the coronavirus outbreak is straining internet bandwidth |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-reducing-video-quality-globally-coronavirus-streaming-bandwidth-2020-3|work=Business Insider |archive-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615151942/https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-reducing-video-quality-globally-coronavirus-streaming-bandwidth-2020-3|url-status=live|access-date=March 24, 2020}}</ref>

After a 2018 complaint alleging violations of the [[Children's Online Privacy Protection Act]] (COPPA),<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube Illegally Tracks Data on Kids, Groups Claim in FTC Complaint |language=en-US |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/youtube-children-data-illegal-tracks-ftc-1202747401/|last=Spangler|first=Todd|archive-date=June 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608030638/https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/youtube-children-data-illegal-tracks-ftc-1202747401/|url-status=live|date=April 9, 2018|access-date=April 27, 2018}}</ref> the company was fined $170&nbsp;million by the FTC for collecting personal information from minors under the age of 13.<ref>{{cite web |title=FTC's Latest Fine Of YouTube Over COPPA Violations Shows That COPPA And Section 230 Are On A Collision Course |last=Mike |first=Masnick |url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190905/17343942934/ftcs-latest-fine-youtube-over-coppa-violations-shows-that-coppa-section-230-are-collision-course.shtml |website=Techdirt. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906200850/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190905/17343942934/ftcs-latest-fine-youtube-over-coppa-violations-shows-that-coppa-section-230-are-collision-course.shtml |url-status=live |archive-date=September 6, 2019|date=September 6, 2019 |access-date=September 7, 2019 }}</ref> YouTube was also ordered to create systems to increase children's privacy.<ref name="verge-coppafine">{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Makena |date=September 4, 2019 |title=Google will pay $170{{nbsp}}million for YouTube's child privacy violations |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/4/20848949/google-ftc-youtube-child-privacy-violations-fine-170-milliion-coppa-ads|website=The Verge |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307214341/https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/4/20848949/google-ftc-youtube-child-privacy-violations-fine-170-milliion-coppa-ads |url-status=live|access-date=September 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fung |first=Brian |title=Google and FTC reach $170{{nbsp}}million settlement over alleged YouTube violations of kids' privacy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/tech/google-youtube-ftc-settlement/index.html  |website=[[CNN Business]] |date=September 4, 2019 |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111115824/https://cnn.com/2019/09/04/tech/google-youtube-ftc-settlement/index.html |url-status=live|access-date=September 4, 2019}}</ref> Following criticisms of its implementation of those systems, YouTube started treating all videos designated as "made for kids" as liable under COPPA on January 6, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last=Matthews |first=David |date=January 6, 2020 |title=YouTube rolls out new controls aimed at controlling children's content |url=https://www.techspot.com/news/83422-youtube-rolls-out-new-controls-aimed-controlling-children.html |access-date=January 9, 2020 |work=TechSpot |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405095937/https://www.techspot.com/news/83422-youtube-rolls-out-new-controls-aimed-controlling-children.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Makena |date=December 11, 2019 |title=YouTube calls for 'more clarity' on the FTC's child privacy rules |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/11/21011229/youtube-google-coppa-ftc-creators-videos-childrens-privacy-regulations|website=The Verge|archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307214402/https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/11/21011229/youtube-google-coppa-ftc-creators-videos-childrens-privacy-regulations|url-status=live|access-date=December 11, 2019}}</ref> Joining the [[YouTube Kids]] app, the company created a supervised mode, designed more for [[Preadolescent|tweens]], in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spangler |first1=Todd |date=February 24, 2021 |title=YouTube New 'Supervised' Mode Will Let Parents Restrict Older Kids' Video Viewing |url=https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/youtube-supervised-accounts-kid-controls-1234913968/|access-date=April 19, 2021|website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316045244/https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/youtube-supervised-accounts-kid-controls-1234913968/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, to compete with [[TikTok]] and [[Instagram Reels]], YouTube released [[YouTube Shorts]], a short-form video platform.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sato |first1=Mia |title=YouTube is adding a slew of new TikTok-like features to Shorts |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/1/23814549/youtube-shorts-live-video-feed-effects-monetization-tiktok |website=The Verge |date=August 2023 |access-date=August 14, 2024}}</ref> During that period, YouTube entered disputes with other tech companies. For over a year, in 2018-19, no YouTube app was available for [[Amazon Fire TV|Amazon Fire]] products.<ref>{{cite web|title=YouTube is finally coming back to Amazon's Fire TV devices |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/18/18412525/youtube-amazon-fire-tv-prime-video-chromecast-return-announcement|last=Welch |first=Chris|website=The Verge|archive-date=April 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418172012/https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/18/18412525/youtube-amazon-fire-tv-prime-video-chromecast-return-announcement |url-status=live|date=April 18, 2019|access-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref> In 2020, [[Roku]] removed the YouTube TV app from its streaming store after the two companies were unable to reach an agreement.<ref>{{cite web |last=Solsman |first=Joan E. |date=April 30, 2021 |title=Roku: YouTube TV app removed from channel store as deal with Google ends |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/roku-youtube-tv-app-removed-from-channel-store-as-deal-with-google-ends/|publisher=CNET |language=en |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503094719/https://www.cnet.com/news/roku-youtube-tv-app-removed-from-channel-store-as-deal-with-google-ends/ |url-status=live|access-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref>

After testing earlier in 2021, YouTube removed public display of dislike counts on videos in November 2021, claiming the reason for the removal was, based on its internal research, that users often used the dislike feature as a form of [[cyberbullying]] and [[vote brigading|brigading]].<ref name="BBC YouTube dislikes">{{cite web|title=YouTube removing dislike 'discourages trolls' but 'unhelpful for users'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59264070|website=[[BBC News]]|archive-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130131058/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59264070 |url-status=live|date=November 12, 2021|access-date=November 30, 2021}}</ref> While some users praised the move as a way to discourage [[Internet troll|trolls]], others felt that hiding dislikes would make it harder for viewers to recognize [[clickbait]] or unhelpful videos and that other features already existed for creators to limit bullying. YouTube co-founder [[Jawed Karim]] referred to the update as "a stupid idea", and that the real reason behind the change was "not a good one, and not one that will be publicly disclosed." He felt that users' ability on a social platform to identify harmful content was essential, saying, "The process works, and there's a name for it: the [[wisdom of the crowd]]s. The process breaks when the platform interferes with it. Then, the platform invariably declines."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vincent |first1=James |date=November 17, 2021 |title=YouTube co-founder predicts 'decline' of the platform following removal of dislikes |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22787080/youtube-dislikes-criticism-cofounder-jawed-karim-first-video-description-zoo |website=The Verge |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117142742/https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22787080/youtube-dislikes-criticism-cofounder-jawed-karim-first-video-description-zoo |url-status=live|access-date=November 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Binder |first1=Matt |date=November 17, 2021 |title=YouTube cofounder protests decision to remove 'dislikes' with an edit to first-ever YouTube upload |url=https://mashable.com/article/youtube-cofounder-protests-decision-to-remove-dislikes|website=Mashable |archive-date=November 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118000227/https://mashable.com/article/youtube-cofounder-protests-decision-to-remove-dislikes |url-status=live|access-date=November 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kan |first1=Michael |date=November 17, 2021 |title=YouTube Co-Founder Says Removing Dislike Counts Is a 'Stupid Idea' |url=https://uk.pcmag.com/social-media/137045/youtube-co-founder-says-removing-dislike-counts-is-a-stupid-idea |access-date=November 30, 2021 |website=PC Magazine |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529055917/https://uk.pcmag.com/social-media/137045/youtube-co-founder-says-removing-dislike-counts-is-a-stupid-idea |url-status=live }}</ref> Shortly after the announcement, software developer Dmitry Selivanov created Return YouTube Dislike, an [[Open source|open-source]], third-party [[browser extension]] for [[Google Chrome|Chrome]] and [[Firefox]] that allows users to see a video's number of dislikes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kan |first=Michael |date=November 29, 2021 |title=Browser Extension Brings Back Dislike Count to YouTube Videos |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130230749/https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |archive-date=November 30, 2021|work=[[PC Magazine]]|access-date=January 20, 2022}}</ref> In a letter published on January 25, 2022, by then YouTube CEO [[Susan Wojcicki]], acknowledged that removing public dislike counts was a controversial decision, but reiterated that she stands by this decision, claiming that "it reduced dislike attacks."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wojcicki |first1=Susan |date=January 25, 2022 |title=Letter from Susan: Our 2022 Priorities |url=https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/letter-susan-our-2022-priorities/ |access-date=March 8, 2022 |website=YouTube Official Blog |archive-date=October 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006154605/https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/letter-susan-our-2022-priorities/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, YouTube launched an experiment where the company would show users who watched longer videos on TVs a long chain of short unskippable adverts, intending to consolidate all ads into the beginning of a video. Following public outrage over the unprecedented amount of unskippable ads, YouTube "ended" the experiment on September 19 of that year.<ref>{{cite web |last=Livemint |date=September 19, 2022 |title=YouTube ends experiment that forced users to watch large unskippable ads |url=https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/youtube-ends-experiment-that-forced-users-to-watch-large-unskippable-ads-11663572953523.html |access-date=September 21, 2022 |website=mint |language=en |archive-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921060005/https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/youtube-ends-experiment-that-forced-users-to-watch-large-unskippable-ads-11663572953523.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In October, YouTube announced that they would be rolling out customizable user handles in addition to channel names, which would also become channel URLs.<ref>{{cite web |last=Krasnoff |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Krasnoff |date=October 15, 2022 |title=How to choose your YouTube handle |url=https://www.theverge.com/23403217/youtube-handle-url-how-to |website=[[The Verge]] |archive-date=December 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214230354/https://www.theverge.com/23403217/youtube-handle-url-how-to |url-status=live|access-date=December 15, 2022}}</ref>

=== Recent history (2023–present) ===
[[File:YouTube Logo 2017.svg|thumb|YouTube logo from August 2017 until February 5th, 2025]]
On February 16, 2023, Wojcicki announced that she would step down as CEO, with [[Neal Mohan]] named as her successor. Wojcicki took on an advisory role for Google and parent company [[Alphabet Inc.|Alphabet]].<ref name="Wojcicki steps down">{{cite web|title=YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down after nine years at the helm |last1=Peters |first1=Jay |last2=Roth |first2=Emma |date=January 16, 2023 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/16/23602759/youtube-ceo-susan-wojcicki-stepping-down-neal-mohan-google |website=[[The Verge]] |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216185547/https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/16/23602759/youtube-ceo-susan-wojcicki-stepping-down-neal-mohan-google |url-status=live|access-date=February 16, 2023}}</ref> Wojcicki died a year and a half later from [[non-small-cell lung cancer]], on August 9, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Afshar |first=Paradise |date=2024-08-10 |title=Susan Wojcicki, former YouTube CEO, dies at 56 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/10/business/susan-wojcicki-obit/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240810100727/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/10/business/susan-wojcicki-obit/index.html |archive-date=2024-08-10 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=[[CNN]] |language=en}}</ref>

In late October 2023, YouTube began cracking down on the use of [[ad blocker]]s on the platform. Users of ad blockers may be given a pop-up warning saying "Video player will be blocked after 3 videos". Users of ad blockers are shown a message asking them to allow ads or inviting them to subscribe to the ad-free [[YouTube Premium]] subscription plan. YouTube says that the use of ad blockers violates its terms of service.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Allow ads on videos that you watch – YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14129599?hl=en |website=[[Google News]]|archive-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109171547/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14129599?hl=en|url-status=live|access-date=November 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dave |first=Paresh |title=YouTube's Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls of Ad Blockers |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/youtubes-ad-blocker-crackdown-spurs-record-uninstalls/ |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109171547/https://www.wired.com/story/youtubes-ad-blocker-crackdown-spurs-record-uninstalls/ |url-status=live|access-date=November 9, 2023}}</ref> In April 2024, YouTube announced it would be "strengthening our enforcement on third-party apps that violate YouTube's Terms of Service, specifically ad-blocking apps".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amadeo |first=Ron |date=April 16, 2024 |title=YouTube puts third-party clients on notice: Show ads or get blocked |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/youtube-will-start-blocking-third-party-clients-that-dont-show-ads/|website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=April 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417140857/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/youtube-will-start-blocking-third-party-clients-that-dont-show-ads/ |url-status=live|access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref> Starting in June 2024, [[Google Chrome]] announced that it would be replacing Manifest V2 in favor of [[Manifest V3]], effectively killing support for most ad-blockers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Amadeo |first1=Ron |title=Google Chrome will limit ad blockers starting June 2024 |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/google-chrome-will-limit-ad-blockers-starting-june-2024/ |website=[[Ars Technica]] |date=November 21, 2023 |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref> Around the same time, YouTube started using server-side ad injection, which allows the platform to inject the ads directly into the video, instead of having the ad as a separate file which can be blocked.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peterson |first1=Jake |title=YouTube Has Launched Another Half-Baked Strategy to Kill Ad Blockers |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/youtube-experimenting-with-a-way-to-kill-ad-blockers-for-good |website=[[Lifehacker]] |date=July 26, 2024 |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref>

In September 2023, YouTube announced an in-app gaming platform called Playables. It was made accessible to all users in May 2024, expanding from an initial offering limited to premium subscribers. In December 2024, YouTube began testing a new multiplayer feature for that service, supporting multiplayer functionality across desktop and mobile devices. {{as of|December 2024}} the Playables catalog has over 130 games in various genres including [[trivia game|trivia]], action and sports.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mehta |first=Ivan |date=2024-12-10 |title=YouTube is testing multiplayer mini-games |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/10/youtube-is-testing-multiplayer-mini-games/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-10 |title=YouTube introduces multiplayer mini-games on Playables |url=https://www.engadget.com/gaming/youtube-introduces-multiplayer-mini-games-on-playables-133056235.html |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref>

In December 2024, YouTube introduced new guidelines prohibiting videos with clickbait titles to enhance content quality and combat misinformation. The platform aims to penalize creators using misleading or sensationalized titles, with potential actions including video removal or channel suspension.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=20 December 2024 |title=YouTube is cracking down on clickbait |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/20/24325999/youtube-clickbait-crackdown-india |access-date=26 January 2025 |website=[[The Verge]]}}</ref> According to YouTube, this guideline will gradually roll out in India first, but will expand to more countries in the coming months.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-20 |title=New YouTube rules in India as platform bans videos with clickbait titles |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/new-youtube-rules-in-india-as-platform-bans-videos-with-clickbait-titles-2652709-2024-12-20 |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=India Today}}</ref>

On February 14, 2025, YouTube celebrated 20 years since its founding.

In April 2025, YouTube announced an expansion of its efforts to identify and manage AI-generated content that mimics the likeness of creators, artists, and influential figures. This includes detecting AI-generated faces and voices that could be used to deceive viewers. The company is also backing the NO FAKES Act, legislation aimed at addressing the misuse of AI replicas that simulate individuals' images or voices to create harmful content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2025-04-09 |title=YouTube expands its 'likeness' detection technology, which detects AI fakes, to a handful of top creators |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/09/youtube-expands-its-likeness-detection-technology-which-detects-ai-fakes-to-a-handful-of-top-creators/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Senior leadership ==
YouTube has been led by a CEO since its founding in 2005, beginning with [[Chad Hurley]], who led the company until 2010. After Google's acquisition of YouTube, the CEO role was retained. [[Salar Kamangar]] took over Hurley's position and kept the job until 2014. He was replaced by [[Susan Wojcicki]], who later resigned in 2023.<ref name="Wojcicki steps down" /> The current CEO is [[Neal Mohan]], who was appointed on February 16, 2023.<ref name="Wojcicki steps down" />

== Features ==
{{Main article|List of YouTube features}}

YouTube offers different features based on user verification, such as standard or basic features like uploading videos, creating playlists, and using [[YouTube Music]], with limits based on daily activity (verification via phone number or channel history increases feature availability and daily usage limits); intermediate or additional features like longer videos (over 15 minutes), live streaming, custom thumbnails, and creating podcasts; advanced features like content ID appeals, embedding live streams, applying for monetization, clickable links, adding chapters, and pinning comments on videos or posts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9890437 |title=Access to YouTube tools & features |access-date=21 October 2024 |work=YouTube Help |via=[[Google Support]]}}</ref>

== Videos ==
In January 2012, it was estimated that visitors to YouTube spent an average of 15 minutes a day on the site, in contrast to the four or five hours a day spent by a typical US citizen watching television.<ref name="seabrook20120116">{{cite news |last1=Seabrook |first1=John |date=January 16, 2012 |title=Streaming Dreams |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all |access-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-date=July 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702013528/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, viewers on average watched YouTube on mobile devices for more than an hour every day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Updates from VidCon: more users, more products, more shows and much more |url=https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/06/updates-from-vidcon-more-users-more.html |access-date=September 16, 2017 |website=Official YouTube Blog |archive-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917033123/https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/06/updates-from-vidcon-more-users-more.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2012, two billion views were removed from the view counts of Universal and [[Sony Music Entertainment|Sony]] music videos on YouTube, prompting a claim by ''[[The Daily Dot]]'' that the views had been deleted due to a violation of the site's terms of service, which ban the use of automated processes to inflate view counts. That was disputed by ''Billboard'', which said that the two billion views had been moved to Vevo, since the videos were no longer active on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hoffberger |first=Chase |date=December 21, 2012 |title=YouTube strips Universal and Sony of 2&nbsp;billion fake views |url=https://www.dailydot.com/news/youtube-universal-sony-fake-views-black-hat/ |access-date=January 10, 2014 |work=[[The Daily Dot]] |publisher=[[Complex Media, Inc.]] |archive-date=January 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111182922/http://www.dailydot.com/news/youtube-universal-sony-fake-views-black-hat/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sabbagh |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Sabbagh |date=December 28, 2012 |title=Two billion YouTube music video views disappear ... or just migrate? |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/28/youtube-video-views-disappear-migrate |access-date=January 10, 2014 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307215001/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/28/youtube-video-views-disappear-migrate |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 5, 2015, YouTube patched the formerly notorious behavior which caused a video's [[Views (social media)|view count]] to freeze at "301" (later "301+") until the actual count was verified to prevent [[Click fraud|view count fraud]].<ref name="numberphile">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkhgagvrjI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/oIkhgagvrjI |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |title=Why do YouTube views freeze at 301? |date=June 22, 2012 |last=Haran |first=Brady |author-link=Brady Haran |access-date=August 30, 2018 |work=[[Numberphile]] |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> YouTube view counts once again updated in real time.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Snyder |first=Benjamin |date=August 6, 2015 |title=YouTube Finally Fixed This Annoying Feature |url=https://time.com/3987570/youtube-301-views/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=March 26, 2017 |archive-date=February 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212192853/http://time.com/3987570/youtube-301-views/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Since September 2019, subscriber counts are abbreviated. Only three leading digits of channels' subscriber counts are indicated publicly, compromising the function of third-party real-time indicators such as that of [[Social Blade]]. Exact counts remain available to channel operators inside YouTube Studio.<ref>{{cite web |year=2019 |title=Abbreviated public-facing subscriber counts |url=https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2019/08/abbreviated-public-facing-subscriber.html |website=YouTube Engineering and Developers Blog |language=en |access-date=April 9, 2021 |archive-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413152915/https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2019/08/abbreviated-public-facing-subscriber.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On November 11, 2021, after testing out this change in March of the same year, YouTube announced it would start hiding dislike counts on videos, making them invisible to viewers. The company stated the decision was in response to experiments which confirmed that smaller YouTube creators were more likely to be targeted in dislike [[Vote brigading|brigading]] and harassment. Creators will still be able to see the number of likes and dislikes in the YouTube Studio dashboard tool, according to YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=March 30, 2021 |title=YouTube Launches Test to Hide Video 'Dislike' Counts |url=https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/youtube-test-hide-dislike-counts-1234940845/ |access-date=March 30, 2021 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330172918/https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/youtube-test-hide-dislike-counts-1234940845/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube tests hiding dislike counts on videos |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/30/youtube-tests-hiding-dislike-counts-on-videos/ |last=Perez |first=Sarah |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330192637/https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/30/youtube-tests-hiding-dislike-counts-on-videos/ |url-status=live |archive-date=March 30, 2021 |website=[[TechCrunch]] |date=March 30, 2021 |language=en-US }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=November 11, 2021 |title=YouTube to hide dislike counts for all videos on the platform: Here's all you need to know |url=https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/youtube-to-hide-dislike-counts-for-all-videos-on-the-platform-heres-all-you-need-to-know/ar-AAQAxJc |access-date=November 11, 2021 |publisher=MSN |language=en-US |archive-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111152412/https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/youtube-to-hide-dislike-counts-for-all-videos-on-the-platform-heres-all-you-need-to-know/ar-AAQAxJc |url-status=live }}</ref>

YouTube has an estimated 14.8{{nbsp}}billion videos with about 4% of those never having a view.<ref name=":1" /> Just over 85% have fewer than 1,000 views.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McGrady |first1=Ryan |last2=Zheng |first2=Kevin |last3=Curran |first3=Rebecca |last4=Baumgartner |first4=Jason |last5=Zuckerman |first5=Ethan |date=2023-12-20 |title=Dialing for Videos: A Random Sample of YouTube |url=https://journalqd.org/article/view/4066/3766 |journal=Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |language=en |volume=3 |doi=10.51685/jqd.2023.022 |issn=2673-8813|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Copyright issues ===
{{Main|YouTube copyright issues}}

{{further|#Revenue to copyright holders}}

YouTube has faced numerous challenges and criticisms in its attempts to deal with copyright, including the site's first viral video, [[Lazy Sunday (The Lonely Island song)|Lazy Sunday]], which had to be taken down, due to copyright concerns.<ref name="First Launched" /> At the time of uploading a video, YouTube users are shown a message asking them not to violate copyright laws.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marsden |first=Rhodri |date=August 12, 2009 |title=Why did my YouTube account get closed down? |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/rhodri-marsden-why-did-my-youtube-account-get-closed-down-1770618.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/rhodri-marsden-why-did-my-youtube-account-get-closed-down-1770618.html |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=August 12, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Despite this advice, many unauthorized clips of copyrighted material remain on YouTube. YouTube does not view videos before they are posted online, and it is left to copyright holders to issue a [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act|DMCA]] [[takedown notice]] pursuant to the terms of the [[Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act]]. Any successful complaint about copyright infringement results in a [[YouTube copyright strike]]. Three successful complaints for [[copyright infringement]] against a user account will result in the account and all of its uploaded videos being deleted.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/t/copyright_strike Why do I have a sanction on my account?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120143234/http://www.youtube.com/t/copyright_strike |date=January 20, 2013 }} YouTube. Retrieved February 5, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 21, 2010 |title=Is YouTube's three-strike rule fair to users? |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/8696716.stm |access-date=February 5, 2012 |archive-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704094039/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/8696716.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> From 2007 to 2009 organizations including [[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]], [[Mediaset]], and the English [[Premier League]] have filed lawsuits against YouTube, claiming that it has done too little to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 13, 2007 |title=Viacom will sue YouTube for $1bn|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6446193.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|archive-date=January 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115123246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6446193.stm |url-status=live|access-date=May 26, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 30, 2008 |title=Mediaset Files EUR500{{nbsp}}Million Suit Vs Google's YouTube |publisher=[[CNNMoney.com]] |url=https://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807301025DOWJONESDJONLINE000654_FORTUNE5.htm |access-date=August 19, 2009 |archive-date=September 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908122120/http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807301025DOWJONESDJONLINE000654_FORTUNE5.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 5, 2007 |title=Premier League to take action against YouTube |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2312532/Premier-League-to-take-action-against-YouTube.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2312532/Premier-League-to-take-action-against-YouTube.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In August 2008, a US court ruled in ''[[Lenz v. Universal Music Corp.]]'' that copyright holders cannot order the removal of an online file without first determining whether the posting reflected [[fair use]] of the material.<ref>{{cite news |last=Egelko |first=Bob |date=August 20, 2008 |title=Woman can sue over YouTube clip de-posting |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/20/MNU412FKRL.DTL |access-date=August 25, 2008 |archive-date=August 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080825003638/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/20/MNU412FKRL.DTL |url-status=live }}</ref> YouTube's owner Google announced in November 2015 that they would help cover the legal cost in select cases where they believe fair use defenses apply.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Finley |first=Klint |date=November 19, 2015 |title=Google Pledges to Help Fight Bogus YouTube Copyright Claims—for a Few |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/11/google-pledges-to-help-fight-bogus-youtube-copyright-claims-for-a-few/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=March 25, 2017 |archive-date=March 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320144102/https://www.wired.com/2015/11/google-pledges-to-help-fight-bogus-youtube-copyright-claims-for-a-few/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 2011 case of ''[[Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC]]'', professional singer Matt Smith sued Summit Entertainment for the wrongful use of copyright takedown notices on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Ohio Northern District Court |date=July 18, 2013 |url=https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Ohio_Northern_District_Court/3--11-cv-00348/Smith__v_Summit_Entertainment_LLC/#q= |access-date=October 21, 2014 |title=Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC |website=Docket Alarm, Inc. |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619012909/https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Ohio_Northern_District_Court/3--11-cv-00348/Smith__v._Summit_Entertainment_LLC/#q= |url-status=live }}</ref> He asserted seven [[causes of action]], and four were ruled in Smith's favor.<ref>{{cite web |author=District Judge James G. Carr |date=June 6, 2011 |title=Order |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4653165041580834913 |access-date=November 7, 2011 |work=Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC |publisher=United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, Western Division |archive-date=January 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130083207/http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4653165041580834913 |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2012, a court in Hamburg ruled that YouTube could be held responsible for copyrighted material posted by its users.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 20, 2012 |title=YouTube loses court battle over music clips |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17785613 |access-date=April 20, 2012 |archive-date=October 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016014454/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17785613 |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 1, 2016, the dispute with GEMA was resolved, with Google content ID being used to allow advertisements to be added to videos with content protected by GEMA.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 1, 2016 |title=YouTube's seven-year stand-off ends |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37839038 |access-date=November 2, 2016 |archive-date=November 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103103021/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37839038 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2013, it was reported that [[Universal Music Group]] and YouTube have a contractual agreement that prevents content blocked on YouTube by a request from UMG from being restored, even if the uploader of the video files a DMCA counter-notice.<ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube's Deal With Universal Blocks DMCA Counter Notices |url=https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-deal-with-universal-blocks-dmca-counter-notices-130405/|publisher=TorrentFreak |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407164748/http://torrentfreak.com/youtube-deal-with-universal-blocks-dmca-counter-notices-130405/ |url-status=live|archive-date=April 7, 2013|date=April 5, 2013|access-date=April 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Videos removed or blocked due to YouTube's contractual obligations |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=3045545 |access-date=April 5, 2013 |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514115738/http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=3045545 |url-status=live }}</ref> As part of YouTube Music, Universal and YouTube signed an agreement in 2017, which was followed by separate agreements other major labels, which gave the company the right to advertising revenue when its music was played on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aswad |first1=Jem |date=December 19, 2017 |title=YouTube Strikes New Deals With Universal and Sony Music |url=https://variety.com/2017/biz/news/universal-music-group-and-youtube-reach-new-global-multi-year-agreement-1202644815/ |access-date=April 22, 2021 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422152635/https://variety.com/2017/biz/news/universal-music-group-and-youtube-reach-new-global-multi-year-agreement-1202644815/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2019, creators were having videos taken down or demonetized when Content ID identified even short segments of copyrighted music within a much longer video, with different levels of enforcement depending on the record label.<ref name="fighting">{{cite web |last=Alexander |first=Julia |date=May 24, 2019 |title=YouTubers and record labels are fighting, and record labels keep winning |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/24/18635904/copyright-youtube-creators-dmca-takedown-fair-use-music-cover |access-date=April 22, 2021 |website=The Verge |language=en |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422152639/https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/24/18635904/copyright-youtube-creators-dmca-takedown-fair-use-music-cover |url-status=live}}</ref> Experts noted that some of these clips said qualified for fair use.<ref name="fighting" />

==== Content ID ====
{{Main|Content ID}}

In June 2007, YouTube began trials of a system for automatic detection of uploaded videos that infringe copyright. Google CEO Eric Schmidt regarded this system as necessary for resolving lawsuits such as the one from [[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]], which alleged that YouTube profited from content that it did not have the right to distribute.<ref>{{cite news |last=Delaney |first=Kevin J. |date=June 12, 2007 |title=YouTube to Test Software To Ease Licensing Fights |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB118161295626932114.html |access-date=December 4, 2011 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220085307/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118161295626932114.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The system, which was initially called "Video Identification"<ref>{{Citation|last=YouTube Advertisers|title=Video Identification|date=February 4, 2008|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWizsV5Le7s|access-date=August 29, 2018}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=King |first=David |date=December 2, 2010 |title=Content ID turns three |language=en-US |work=Official YouTube Blog |url=https://youtube.googleblog.com/2010/12/content-id-turns-three.html |access-date=August 29, 2018}}</ref> and later became known as Content ID,<ref>{{cite web |date=September 28, 2010 |title=YouTube Content ID |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2U12SsRns |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/9g2U12SsRns |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=May 25, 2015 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> creates an ID File for copyrighted audio and video material, and stores it in a database. When a video is uploaded, it is checked against the database, and flags the video as a copyright violation if a match is found.<ref name="youtube">[https://www.youtube.com/t/contentid_more More about Content ID] YouTube. Retrieved December 4, 2011.</ref> When this occurs, the content owner has the choice of blocking the video to make it unviewable, tracking the viewing statistics of the video, or adding advertisements to the video.

An independent test in 2009 uploaded multiple versions of the same song to YouTube and concluded that while the system was "surprisingly resilient" in finding copyright violations in the audio tracks of videos, it was not infallible.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Von Lohmann |first1=Fred |date=April 23, 2009 |title=Testing YouTube's Audio Content ID System |newspaper=Electronic Frontier Foundation |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/testing-youtubes-aud |access-date=December 4, 2011}}</ref> The use of Content ID to remove material automatically has led to [[YouTube copyright issues|controversy]] in some cases, as the videos have not been checked by a human for fair use.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Von Lohmann |first1=Fred |date=February 3, 2009 |title=YouTube's January Fair Use Massacre |newspaper=Electronic Frontier Foundation |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/youtubes-january-fair-use-massacre |access-date=December 4, 2011}}</ref> If a YouTube user disagrees with a decision by Content ID, it is possible to fill in a form disputing the decision.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/t/contentid_dispute Content ID disputes] YouTube. Retrieved December 4, 2011.</ref>

Before 2016, videos were not monetized until the dispute was resolved. Since April 2016, videos continue to be monetized while the dispute is in progress, and the money goes to whoever won the dispute.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hernandez |first1=Patricia |title=YouTube's Content ID System Gets One Much-Needed Fix |url=https://kotaku.com/youtubes-content-id-system-gets-one-much-needed-fix-1773643254 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |website=Kotaku |date=April 28, 2016}}</ref> Should the uploader want to monetize the video again, they may remove the disputed audio in the "Video Manager".<ref>{{cite web |title=Remove Content ID claimed songs from my videos – YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2902117?hl=en |access-date=September 17, 2017 |publisher=Google Inc. |language=en}}</ref> YouTube has cited the effectiveness of Content ID as one of the reasons why the site's rules were modified in December 2010 to allow some users to upload videos of unlimited length.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Siegel |first1=Joshua |last2=Mayle |first2=Doug |date=December 9, 2010 |title=Up, Up and Away – Long videos for more users |url=https://youtube.googleblog.com/2010/12/up-up-and-away-long-videos-for-more.html |access-date=March 25, 2017 |website=Official YouTube Blog}}</ref>

=== Russia ===
In 2021, two accounts linked to [[RT DE]], the German channel of the Russian state-owned [[RT (TV network)|RT]] network, were removed for breaching YouTube's policies relating to COVID-19.<ref name="WaPo20210929">{{cite news |last=Pannett |first=Rachel |date=January 29, 2021 |title=Russia threatens to block YouTube after German channels are deleted over coronavirus misinformation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/29/russia-ban-youtube-german-coronavirus/ |access-date=September 30, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Russia threatened to ban YouTube after the platform deleted two German RT channels in September 2021.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 29, 2021 |title=Russia threatens YouTube ban for deleting RT channels |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58737433 |access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> Shortly after the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022, YouTube removed all channels funded by the Russian state.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 3, 2022 |title=YouTube blocks Russian state-funded media channels globally |language=en-US |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/youtube-blocks-russian-state-funded-media-channels-globally-2022-03-11/ |access-date=December 5, 2023}}</ref> YouTube expanded the removal of Russian content from its site to include channels described as 'pro-Russian'. In June 2022, the ''War Gonzo'' channel run by Russian military blogger and journalist [[Semyon Pegov]] was deleted.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Youtube deletes Wargonzo channel |url=https://news.am/eng/news/708387.html|access-date=December 5, 2023}}</ref>

In July 2023, YouTube removed the channel of British journalist [[Graham Phillips (journalist)|Graham Phillips]], active in covering the [[war in Donbas]] from 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title=British Pro-Russian YouTuber vows his assets shouldn't be frozen for promoting invasion |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-pro-russian-youtuber-vows-31457188 |access-date=December 5, 2023 |work=[[Daily Mirror|The Mirror]] |date=November 16, 2023 }}</ref> In August 2023, a Moscow court fined Google 3&nbsp;million rubles, around $35,000, for not deleting what it said was "fake news about the war in Ukraine".<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia fines Google for failing to delete 'false content' about Ukraine war |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-fine-google-ukraine-war/ |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=[[Politico]] |date=August 17, 2023 }}</ref>

In October 2024, a Russian court fined Google 2&nbsp;undecillion [[Russian ruble|rubles]] (equivalent to US$20{{nbsp}}decillion) for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fraser |first=Graham |date=31 October 2024 |title=Russia fines Google more money than there is in entire world |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxvnwkl5kgo |access-date=8 November 2024 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> The fine imposed by Russia is far greater than the world's total GDP, estimated at US$110{{nbsp}}trillion by the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cairns |first=Dan |date=31 October 2024 |title=Russia fines Google more than world's entire GDP for blocking YouTube accounts |url=https://news.sky.com/story/russia-fines-google-more-than-worlds-entire-gdp-for-blocking-youtube-accounts-13245208 |access-date=8 November 2024 |work=[[Sky News]]}}</ref> State news agency [[TASS]] reported that Google is allowed to return to the Russian market only if it complies with the court's decision.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 October 2024 |title=Google's fines in Russia reach stratospheric levels — lawyer |url=https://tass.com/economy/1864291 |work=[[TASS]]}}</ref> Kremlin spokesperson [[Dmitry Peskov]] labeled the court decision as "symbolic" and warned Google that it "should not be restricting the actions of our broadcasters on its platform."<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 October 2024 |title=Russia says $20{{nbsp}}decillion fine against Google is 'symbolic' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/31/russia-20-decillion-fine-against-google-symbolic-youtube-ban-pro-kremlin-media |access-date=8 November 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref>

=== April Fools gags ===
{{See also|List of Google April Fools' Day jokes}}
YouTube featured an [[April Fools' Day|April Fools]] prank on the site on April 1 of every year from 2008 to 2016. In 2008, all links to videos on the main page were redirected to [[Rick Astley]]'s music video "[[Never Gonna Give You Up]]", a prank known as "[[rickrolling]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Arrington |first=Michael |date=March 31, 2008 |title=YouTube RickRolls Users |url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/03/31/youtube-rickrolls-users/ |access-date=March 26, 2017 |website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wortham |first=Jenna |date=April 1, 2008 |title=YouTube 'Rickrolls' Everyone |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/04/youtube-rickrol/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> The next year, when clicking on a video on the main page, the whole page turned upside down, which YouTube claimed was a "new layout".<ref>{{cite web |author=Bas van den Beld |date=April 1, 2009 |title=April fools: YouTube turns the world up-side-down |url=https://www.searchcowboys.com/news/453 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403054721/https://www.searchcowboys.com/news/453 |archive-date=April 3, 2009 |access-date=April 2, 2010 |publisher=searchcowboys.com}}</ref> In 2010, YouTube temporarily released a "TEXTp" mode which rendered video imagery into [[ASCII art]] letters "in order to reduce bandwidth costs by $1 per second."<ref>{{cite web |last=Pichette |first=Patrick |date=March 31, 2010 |title=TEXTp saves YouTube bandwidth, money |url=https://youtube.googleblog.com/2010/03/textp-saves-youtube-bandwidth-money.html |access-date=March 25, 2017 |website=Official YouTube Blog}}</ref>

The next year, the site celebrated its "100th anniversary" with a range of sepia-toned silent, early 1900s-style films, including a parody of [[Keyboard Cat]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Richmond |first=Shane |date=April 1, 2011 |title=YouTube goes back to 1911 for April Fools' Day |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8421394/YouTube-goes-back-to-1911-for-April-Fools-Day.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/8421394/YouTube-goes-back-to-1911-for-April-Fools-Day.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=March 26, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2012, clicking on the image of a DVD next to the site logo led to a video about a purported option to order every YouTube video for home delivery on DVD.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Carbone |first=Nick |date=April 1, 2012 |title=April Fools' Day 2012: The Best Pranks from Around the Web |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/01/april-fools-day-2012-the-best-pranks-from-around-the-web/ |magazine=Time |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> In 2013, YouTube teamed up with satirical newspaper company ''[[The Onion]]'' to claim in an uploaded video that the video-sharing website was launched as a contest which had finally come to an end, and would shut down for ten years before being re-launched in 2023, featuring only the winning video. The video starred several [[Internet celebrity|YouTube celebrities]], including [[Antoine Dodson]]. A video of two presenters announcing the nominated videos streamed live for 12 hours.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Quan |first=Kristene |date=April 1, 2013 |title=WATCH: YouTube Announces It Will Shut Down |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/04/01/watch-youtube-announces-it-will-shut-down/ |magazine=Time |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Murphy |first=Samantha |date=March 31, 2013 |title=YouTube Says It's Shutting Down in April Fools' Day Prank |url=https://mashable.com/2013/03/31/youtube-april-fools-day/?europe=true |access-date=November 8, 2019 |publisher=[[Mashable]]}}</ref>

In 2014, YouTube announced that it was responsible for the creation of all viral video trends, and revealed previews of upcoming trends, such as "Clocking", "Kissing Dad", and "Glub Glub Water Dance".<ref>{{cite news |last=Kleinman |first=Alexis |date=April 1, 2014 |title=YouTube Reveals Its Viral Secrets in April Fools' Day Video |newspaper=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/youtube-april-fools_n_5068694.html |access-date=April 1, 2014}}</ref> The next year, YouTube added a music button to the video bar that played samples from "[[Sandstorm (instrumental)|Sandstorm]]" by [[Darude]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Alba |first=Alejandro |date=April 1, 2015 |title=17 April Fools' pranks from tech brands, tech giants today |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/17-april-fool-pranks-tech-brands-tech-giants-today-article-1.2169557 |access-date=June 12, 2016 |website=Daily News|location=New York}}</ref> In 2016, YouTube introduced an option to watch every video on the platform in 360-degree mode with [[Snoop Dogg]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Sini |first=Rozina |date=April 1, 2016 |title=Snoopavision and other April Fools jokes going viral |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35941866 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref>

== Services ==
=== YouTube Premium ===
{{Main|YouTube Premium}}[[File:YouTube Premium logo 2024.svg|thumb|Logo of YouTube Premium]]
[[YouTube Premium]] (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is YouTube's premium subscription service. It offers advertising-free streaming, access to [[YouTube Originals|original programming]], and background and offline video playback on mobile devices.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/premium |title=YouTube Premium |via=YouTube}}</ref> YouTube Premium was originally announced on November 12, 2014, as "Music Key", a [[Comparison of on-demand music streaming services|subscription music streaming]] service, and was intended to integrate with and replace the existing [[Google Play]] Music "All Access" service.<ref>{{cite web |first=James |last=Trew |title=YouTube unveils Music Key subscription service, here's what you need to know |url=https://www.engadget.com/2014/11/12/youtube-launches-music-key/ |website=[[Engadget]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |date=November 12, 2014 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Casey |last=Newton |title=YouTube announces plans for a subscription music service |url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7201969/youtube-music-key-new-subscription-service |website=[[The Verge]] |date=November 12, 2014 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Variety Music Key">{{cite web |first=Todd |last=Spangler |title=YouTube Launches 'Music Key' Subscription Service with More Than 30{{nbsp}}Million Songs |url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/youtube-launches-music-key-subscription-service-with-more-than-30-million-songs-1201354498/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=November 12, 2014 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref> On October 28, 2015, the service was relaunched as YouTube Red, offering ad-free streaming of all videos and access to exclusive original content.<ref>{{cite web |first=Todd |last=Spangler |title=YouTube Red Unveiled: Ad-Free Streaming Service Priced Same as Netflix |url=https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/youtube-red-launches-ad-free-svod-netflix-1201623219/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ron |last=Amadeo |title="YouTube Red" offers premium YouTube for $9.99 a month, $12.99 for iOS users |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/youtube-red-offers-premium-youtube-for-9-99-a-month-12-99-for-ios-users/ |website=[[Ars Technica]] |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ben |last=Popper |title=A first look at the ad-free YouTube Red subscription service |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9586656/youtube-red-subscription-service-hands-on-video-release-date |website=[[The Verge]] |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref> {{As of|2016|November}},<!-- YouTube doesn't provide newer subscriber counts --> the service has 1.5&nbsp;million subscribers, with a further million on a free-trial basis.<ref>{{cite web |first=Hannah |last=Roberts |title=YouTube's ad-free paid subscription service looks like it is struggling to take off |url=https://nordic.businessinsider.com/membership-of-youtubes-paid-subscription-service-is-low-2016-11 |website=[[Business Insider]] |date=November 3, 2016 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref> {{As of|2017|June}}, the first season of [[List of YouTube Premium original programming|YouTube Originals]] had received 250&nbsp;million views in total.<ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube Red originals have racked up nearly 250{{nbsp}}million views |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/22/15855570/youtube-red-originals-250-million-views |website=The Verge |access-date=September 16, 2017 |date=June 22, 2017}}</ref>

=== YouTube Kids ===
{{Main|YouTube Kids}}

[[File:YouTube Kids logo.svg|thumb|Logo of YouTube Kids]]
[[YouTube Kids]] is an American children's video app developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of [[Google]]. The app was developed in response to parental and government scrutiny on the content available to children. The app provides a version of the service-oriented towards children, with curated selections of content, parental control features, and filtering of videos deemed inappropriate viewing for children aged under 13, 8 or 5 depending on the age grouping chosen. First released on February 15, 2015, as an [[Android (operating system)|Android]] and [[iOS]] [[mobile app]], the app has since been released for [[LG Electronics|LG]], [[Samsung Electronics|Samsung]], and [[Sony]] [[smart TV]]s, as well as for [[Android TV]]. On May 27, 2020, it became available on [[Apple TV]]. As of September 2019, the app is available in 69 countries, including Hong Kong and Macau, and one province. YouTube launched a web-based version of YouTube Kids on August 30, 2019.

=== YouTube Music ===
{{Main|YouTube Music}}

[[File:YouTube Music 2024.svg|thumb|Logo of YouTube Music]]
On September 28, 2016, YouTube named [[Lyor Cohen]], the co-founder of [[300 Entertainment]] and former [[Warner Music Group]] executive, the Global Head of Music.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7525695/lyor-cohen-named-youtube-global-head-of-music |title=Lyor Cohen Named YouTube's Global Head of Music |magazine=Billboard |access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref>

In early 2018, Cohen began hinting at the possible launch of YouTube's new subscription music streaming service, a platform that would compete with other services such as [[Spotify]] and [[Apple Music]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://fortune.com/2018/01/04/youtube-lyor-cohen/ |title=How YouTube Is Playing the Peacemaker With Musicians |work=Fortune |access-date=January 6, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> On May 22, 2018, the music streaming platform named "YouTube Music" was launched for people who mostly listen to music on YouTube. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Popper |first=Ben |date=2015-10-21 |title=Red Dawn |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9566973/youtube-red-ad-free-offline-paid-subscription-service |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8457379/inside-youtube-new-subscription-music-streaming-service |title=Inside YouTube's New Subscription Music Streaming Service |magazine=Billboard |access-date=September 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/17/youtube-music-new-streaming-service-launch |title=YouTube to launch new music streaming service |last1=Snapes |first1=Laura |last2=Sweney |first2=Mark |date=May 17, 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en |access-date=September 24, 2018}}</ref>

=== YouTube Movies & TV ===
YouTube Movies & TV is a [[video on demand]] (VOD) service that offers movies and television shows for purchase or rental, depending on availability, along with a selection of movies (encompassing between 100 and 500 titles overall) that are free to stream, with interspersed ad breaks. YouTube began offering free-to-view movie titles to its users in November 2018; selections of new movies are added and others removed, unannounced each month.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 16, 2018 |title=YouTube is now showing ad-supported Hollywood movies |url=https://adage.com/article/digital/youtube-starts-showing-free-hollywood-movies-ad-breaks/315631 |access-date=June 9, 2021 |website=[[Advertising Age]]}}</ref>

In March 2021, Google announced plans to gradually [[deprecate]] the Google Play Movies & TV app, and eventually migrate all users to the YouTube app's Movies & TV store to view, rent and purchase movies and TV shows (first affecting Roku, Samsung, LG, and Vizio smart TV users on July 15).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Changes to Google Play Movies & TV on certain smart TVS – Google Play Community |url=https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/102498448?hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428230113/https://support.google.com/googleplay/thread/102498448?hl=en |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Mitchell |date=April 12, 2021 |title=Google is removing its Play Movies and TV app from every Roku and most smart TVs |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/12/22380593/google-play-movies-tv-app-smart-tvs-roku-samsung-lg-vizio-youtube-support |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119211122/https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/12/22380593/google-play-movies-tv-app-smart-tvs-roku-samsung-lg-vizio-youtube-support |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |access-date=April 13, 2021 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref> Google Play Movies & TV formally shut down on January 17, 2024, with the web version of that platform migrated to YouTube as an expansion of the Movies & TV store to desktop users. (Other functions of Google Play Movies & TV were integrated into the [[Google TV (service)|Google TV]] service.)<ref>{{cite web|title=Google is finally saying goodbye to Google Play Movies & TV|url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/11/23997066/google-play-movies-tv-app-removal|author=Jay Peters|website=[[The Verge]]|date=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

==== YouTube Primetime Channels ====
On November 1, 2022, YouTube launched Primetime Channels, a channel store platform offering third-party subscription streaming add-ons sold a la carte through the YouTube website and app, competing with similar subscription add-on stores operated by [[Apple TV app#Apple TV Channels|Apple]], [[Amazon Prime Video#Amazon Channels|Prime Video]] and [[The Roku Channel|Roku]]. The add-ons can be purchased through the YouTube Movies & TV hub or through the official YouTube channels of the available services; subscribers of YouTube TV add-ons that are sold through Primetime Channels can also access their content via the YouTube app and website. A total of 34 streaming services (including [[Paramount+]], [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], [[Starz]], [[MGM+]], [[AMC+]] and [[Vix (streaming service)|ViX+]]) were initially available for purchase.<ref>{{cite web|title=YouTube Is Reselling Subscriptions to 34 Streaming Services, Including Paramount+ and Showtime|url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/youtube-primetime-channels-subscriptions-paramount-plus-showtime-1235419502/|first=Todd|last=Spangler|magazine=Variety|date=November 1, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=You can now buy some YouTube TV add-ons without the $65 base plan|url=https://www.engadget.com/youtube-tv-add-on-channel-subscriptions-172712214.html|first=Kris|last=Holt|website=[[Engadget]]|date=September 30, 2022|access-date=November 1, 2022}}</ref>

[[NFL Sunday Ticket]], as part of a broader residential distribution deal with [[Google]] signed in December 2022 that also made it available to YouTube TV subscribers, was added to Primetime Channels as a standalone add-on on [[2023 NFL season|August 16, 2023]].<ref name=nfl-sunday>{{cite web|title=Google's YouTube Grabs NFL Sunday Ticket in Seven-Year Deal|url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/youtube-tv-nfl-sunday-ticket-2023-season-1235468074/|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=December 22, 2022|access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref><ref name=NFLNews>{{cite news|title=NFL, Google announce agreement to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, Primetime Channels|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-google-nfl-sunday-ticket-youtube-tv-youtube-primetime-channels|website=[[NFL.com]]|date=December 22, 2022|access-date=December 23, 2022}}</ref> The ad-free tier of [[Max (streaming service)|Max]] was added to Primetime Channels on December 12, 2023, coinciding with YouTube TV converting its separate HBO (for base plan subscribers) and HBO Max (for all subscribers) linear/VOD add-ons into a single combined Max offering.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Max Now Available on YouTube Primetime Channels|url=https://wbd.com/max-now-available-on-youtube-primetime-channels/|publisher=[[Warner Bros. Discovery]]|date=December 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Max becomes a YouTube primetime channel inductee – ads not included|url=https://www.techradar.com/streaming/max-becomes-a-youtube-primetime-channel-inductee-ads-not-included|author=Rowan Davies|website=TechRadar|publisher=Future US, Inc.|date=December 13, 2023}}</ref>{{NoteTag|Max's Primetime Channels and YouTube TV add-ons both offer in-app access to the streaming service's full content library (as well as provider login access to the standalone Max app and website), and live feeds of [[HBO]]'s linear channels (limited to the primary [[Eastern Time Zone|East Coast]] feed on the Primetime Channels version) and the Max-exclusive CNN Max and [[Bleacher Report]] streaming channels.}}

=== YouTube TV ===
{{Main|YouTube TV}}
[[File:YouTube TV logo.svg|thumb|Logo of YouTube TV]]
On February 28, 2017, in a press announcement held at YouTube Space Los Angeles, YouTube announced YouTube TV, an [[over-the-top media service|over-the-top]] [[multichannel video programming distributor|MVPD]]-style subscription service that would be available for United States customers at a price of US$65 per month. Initially launching in five major markets ([[New York City]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], [[Philadelphia]] and [[San Francisco]]) on April 5, 2017,<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube TV launches today. It has some cool features and some big drawbacks |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-youtube-tv-20170405-story.html |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 5, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube Is Officially in the Live TV Game Now |url=https://gizmodo.com/youtube-is-officially-in-the-live-tv-game-now-1794049030 |first=Christina |last=Warren |website=[[Gizmodo]] |publisher=Gizmodo Media Group |date=April 5, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2017}}</ref> the service offers live streams of programming from the five major broadcast networks ([[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], [[The CW]], [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] and [[NBC]], along with selected [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliates and [[independent station]]s in certain markets), as well as approximately 60 cable channels owned by companies such as [[The Walt Disney Company]], [[Paramount Global]], [[Fox Corporation]], [[NBCUniversal]], [[Allen Media Group]] and [[Warner Bros. Discovery]] (including among others [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]], [[USA Network]], [[Syfy]], [[Disney Channel]], [[CNN]], [[Cartoon Network]], [[E!]], [[Fox Sports 1]], [[Freeform (TV channel)|Freeform]], [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] and [[ESPN]]).<ref name="bbc-yttv">{{cite news |title=YouTube takes on cable with new TV service |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39124092 |first=Dave |last=Lee |publisher=BBC |date=March 1, 2017 |access-date=March 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name="fortune-yttv">{{cite news |url=https://fortune.com/2017/02/28/youtube-tv-live-streaming-subscription/ |title=Meet YouTube TV: Google's Live TV Subscription Service |first=Tom Jr |last=Huddleston |work=Fortune |date=March 1, 2017 |access-date=March 1, 2017}}</ref>

[[Subscribers]] can also receive premium cable channels (including [[HBO]] (via a combined [[Max (streaming service)|Max]] add-on that includes in-app and log-in access to the service), [[Cinemax]], [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], [[Starz]] and [[MGM+]]) and other subscription services (such as [[NFL Sunday Ticket]], [[MLB.tv]], [[NBA League Pass]], [[Curiosity Stream]] and [[Fox Nation]]) as optional add-ons for an extra fee, and can access [[YouTube Premium]] original content.<ref name="bbc-yttv"/><ref name="fortune-yttv"/> In September 2022, YouTube TV began allowing customers to purchase most of its premium add-ons (excluding certain services such as NBA League Pass and [[AMC+]]) without an existing subscription to its base package.<ref>{{cite web|title=YouTube TV Launches New Option to Purchase Channel Add-Ons Without a Base Plan|url=https://thestreamable.com/news/youtube-tv-launches-new-option-to-purchase-add-ons-without-a-base-plan|author=Jason Gurwin|website=The Streamable|date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

=== YouTube Go ===
[[File:YouTube Go.svg|thumb|Logo of YouTube Go]]
In September 2016, YouTube Go was announced,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Byford |first1=Sam |title=YouTube Go is a new app for offline viewing and sharing |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/27/13070804/youtube-go-announced-india-offline |access-date=February 10, 2018 |work=The Verge |date=September 27, 2016}}</ref> as an [[Android (operating system)|Android]] app created for making YouTube easier to access on mobile devices in [[emerging market]]s. It was distinct from the company's main Android app and allowed videos to be downloaded and shared with other users. It also allowed users to preview videos, share downloaded videos through [[Bluetooth]], and offered more options for mobile data control and [[Display resolution|video resolution]].<ref name="pd">{{cite news |last1=Dave |first1=Paresh |title=YouTube's emerging markets-focused app expands to 130 countries |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alphabet-youtube/youtubes-emerging-markets-focused-app-expands-to-130-countries-idUSKBN1FL5ZI |access-date=February 10, 2018 |work=Reuters |date=February 1, 2018}}</ref>

In February 2017, YouTube Go was launched in [[India]], and expanded in November 2017 to 14 other countries, including [[Nigeria]], [[Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]], [[Vietnam]], the [[Philippines]], [[Kenya]], and [[South Africa]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Manish |title=YouTube Go is finally here, kind of |url=https://mashable.com/2017/02/09/youtube-go-release-india/ |access-date=February 10, 2018 |work=Mashable |date=February 9, 2017}}</ref><ref name="mashhhh">{{cite news |last1=Ho |first1=Victoria |title=Data-friendly YouTube Go beta launches in Southeast Asia, Africa |url=https://mashable.com/2017/11/30/youtube-go-southeast-asia-africa |access-date=February 10, 2018 |work=Mashable |date=November 30, 2017}}</ref> On February 1, 2018, it was rolled out in 130 countries worldwide, including [[Brazil]], [[Mexico]], [[Turkey]], and [[Iraq]]. Before it shut down, the app was available to around 60% of the world's population.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/01/googles-data-friendly-app-youtube-go-expands-to-over-130-countries-now-supports-higher-quality-videos/ |title=Google's data-friendly app YouTube Go expands to over 130 countries, now supports higher quality&nbsp;videos |last=Perez |first=Sarah |work=TechCrunch |access-date=February 2, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2018/02/01/googles-offline-first-youtube-go-app-launches-globally/ |title=Google's 'offline first' YouTube Go app launches in 130 new markets, but not the U.S. |website=VentureBeat |access-date=February 2, 2018 |date=February 2018}}</ref> In May 2022, Google announced that they would be shutting down YouTube Go in August 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=YouTube Go is shutting down in August |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/05/youtube-go-shutting-down-august/ |access-date=May 5, 2022 |last=Malik |first=Aisha |website=[[TechCrunch]] |date=May 5, 2022 |language=en-US }}</ref>

=== YouTube Shorts ===
{{Main|YouTube Shorts}}
[[File:TikTok and YouTube Shorts example.webm|right|thumb|An example video which is suitable for YouTube Shorts, showing [[Crew Dragon Endeavour|Crew Dragon ''Endeavour'']] docking at the [[International Space Station]]]]

In September 2020, YouTube announced that it would be launching a beta version of a new platform of 15-second videos, similar to [[TikTok]], called [[YouTube Shorts]].<ref>{{cite news |date=September 15, 2020 |title=YouTube's TikTok rival to be tested in India |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54156997 |access-date=September 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |title=YouTube launches its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts, initially in India |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/14/youtube-launches-its-tiktok-rival-youtube-shorts-initially-in-india/ |access-date=May 3, 2024 |website=TechCrunch |date=September 14, 2020 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420184745/https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/14/youtube-launches-its-tiktok-rival-youtube-shorts-initially-in-india/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The platform was first tested in India but as of March 2021 has expanded to other countries including the United States with videos now able to be up to 1 minute long.<ref>{{cite web |last=Amadeo |first=Ron |date=March 1, 2021 |title=YouTube's TikTok clone, "YouTube Shorts," is live in the US |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/youtubes-tiktok-clone-youtube-shorts-is-live-in-the-us/ |access-date=May 4, 2021 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> The platform is not a standalone app, but is integrated into the main YouTube app. Like TikTok, it gives users access to built-in creative tools, including the possibility of adding licensed music to their videos.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 15, 2020 |title=YouTube Shorts launches in India after Delhi TikTok ban |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/15/youtube-shorts-launches-in-india-after-delhi-tiktok-ban |access-date=September 15, 2020 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> The platform had its global beta launch in July 2021.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 13, 2021 |title=YouTube's TikTok competitor YouTube Shorts is rolling out globally |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/13/22575063/youtube-shorts-global-roll-out-tiktok-short-form-video |access-date=July 13, 2021 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref>

=== YouTube Stories ===
In 2018, YouTube started testing a new feature initially called "YouTube Reels".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://econsultancy.com/what-is-youtube-stories-will-it-catch-on/ |title=What is YouTube Stories and will it catch on? |website=EConsultancy |last1=Gilliland |first1=Nikki |date=December 5, 2018 |access-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> The feature was nearly identical to [[Instagram Stories]] and [[Snapchat#Stories and Discover|Snapchat Stories]]. YouTube later renamed the feature "YouTube Stories". It was only available to creators who had more than 10,000 subscribers and could only be posted/seen in the YouTube mobile app.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://creatoracademy.youtube.com/page/course/express-with-stories |title=Express yourself with Stories |website=Creator Academy |via=YouTube |date=November 25, 2019 |access-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> On May 25, 2023, YouTube announced that they would be shutting down this feature on June 26, 2023.<ref name="Google Help">{{cite web |title=YouTube Stories are Going Away on 6/26/2023 – YouTube Community |website=Google Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/217640760 |access-date=May 26, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Amadeo 2023">{{cite web |last=Amadeo |first=Ron |title=YouTube Stories, Google's clone of Snapchat, is dying on June 26 |website=Ars Technica |date=May 25, 2023 |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/youtube-is-killing-off-youtube-stories-its-snapchat-clone/ |access-date=May 26, 2023}}</ref>

=== YouTube VR ===
{{Main|YouTube VR}}
In November 2016, YouTube released [[YouTube VR]], a dedicated version with an interface for VR devices, for [[Google Daydream|Google's Daydream]] mobile VR platform on Android.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |last=VR |first=Oculus |title=Press Play: 'YouTube VR' Available Now on Oculus Go {{!}} Meta Quest Blog |url=https://www.meta.com/blog/quest/press-play-youtube-vr-available-now-on-oculus-go-/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=www.meta.com |language=en}}</ref> In November 2018, YouTube VR was released on the [[Meta Horizon Store|Oculus Store]] for the [[Oculus Go]] headset.<ref name="auto1"/> YouTube VR was updated since for compatibility with successive [[Meta Horizon OS|Quest]] devices, and was ported to [[Pico 4]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Pico 4 Gets Official YouTube VR App |url=https://www.uploadvr.com/pico-4-official-youtube-vr-app/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=UploadVR |language=en}}</ref>

YouTube VR allows for access to all YouTube-hosted videos, but particularly supports headset access for 360° and 180°-degree video (both in 2D and stereoscopic 3D). Starting with the [[Oculus Quest]], the app was updated for compatibility with mixed-reality passthrough modes on VR headsets. In April 2024, YouTube VR was updated to support 8K SDR video on [[Meta Quest 3]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=8K Playback on Meta Quest 3 Available Now |url=https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/developer-post/1850578212124322/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=www.oculus.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Playables===
In 2010, YouTube added ''[[Snake (video game genre)|Snake]]'' as a hidden game inside of their [[video player]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenfield |first=Mattew |date=28 July 2010 |title=Snake game hidden in YouTube: Procrastination squared |website=[[CNET]] |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/snake-game-hidden-in-youtube-procrastination-squared/ |access-date= 25 March 2025 |archive-date=25 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325230313/https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/snake-game-hidden-in-youtube-procrastination-squared/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2024, YouTube introduced Playables, a set of around 75 free-to-play games that can be played on the platform.<ref>{{cite web|title=Playables are now on YouTube|url=https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-playables/|date=May 28, 2024|website=YouTube Blog}}</ref>

== Criticism and controversies ==
{{Excerpt|YouTube moderation}}
=== Privacy concerns ===
{{Excerpt|YouTube and privacy}}
=== Censorship and bans ===
{{Main|Censorship of YouTube}}

YouTube has been censored, filtered, or banned for a variety of reasons, including:<ref name="ONIYouTubeCensored">[https://opennet.net/youtube-censored-a-recent-history "YouTube Censored: A Recent History"], OpenNet Initiative. Retrieved September 23, 2012.</ref>
* Limiting public access and exposure to content that may ignite social or political unrest.
* Preventing criticism of a ruler (e.g. in [[North Korea]]), government (e.g. in [[Internet censorship in China|China]]) or its actions (e.g. in [[Morocco]]), government officials (e.g. in [[Turkey]] and [[Libya]]), or religion (e.g. in [[Pakistan]]).
* Morality-based laws, e.g. in [[Internet censorship in Iran|Iran]].
Access to specific videos is sometimes prevented due to copyright and intellectual property protection laws (e.g. [[Blocking of YouTube videos in Germany|in Germany]]), violations of hate speech, and preventing access to videos judged inappropriate for youth,<ref>{{cite news |title=The disturbing YouTube videos that are tricking children |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-39381889 |newspaper=BBC News |access-date=September 16, 2017 |date=March 27, 2017}}</ref> which is also done by YouTube with the [[YouTube Kids]] app and with "[[Censorship by Google#Censorship of sexual content in Restricted Mode|restricted mode]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shu |first1=Catherine |title=YouTube responds to complaints that its Restricted Mode censors LGBT videos |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/19/youtube-lgbt-restricted-mode/ |website=TechCrunch |date=March 20, 2017 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Businesses, schools, government agencies, and other private institutions often block social media sites, including YouTube, due to its bandwidth limitations<ref>{{cite web |author1=David Meerman Scott |title=Facebook and YouTube blocked by paranoid corporations at their own peril |url=https://www.webinknow.com/2008/06/facebook-and-yo.html |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en |author1-link=David Meerman Scott}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hannaford |first1=Kat |title=US Military Bans YouTube, Amazon and 11 Other Websites to Free Up Bandwidth for Japan Crisis |url=https://gizmodo.com/5782886/us-military-bans-youtube-amazon-and-11-other-websites-to-free-up-bandwidth-for-japan-crisis |website=Gizmodo |date=March 17, 2011 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916182849/http://gizmodo.com/5782886/us-military-bans-youtube-amazon-and-11-other-websites-to-free-up-bandwidth-for-japan-crisis |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the site's potential for distraction.<ref name="ONIYouTubeCensored" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Strom |first1=Stephanie |title=YouTube Finds a Way Off Schools' Banned List |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/education/youtube-finds-a-way-off-schools-banned-list.html?mcubz=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=September 16, 2017 |date=March 9, 2012}}</ref>

{{As of|2018}}, public access to YouTube is blocked in many countries, including [[China]], [[North Korea]], [[Iran]], [[Turkmenistan]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkmenistan |url=https://rsf.org/en/news/turkmenistan-1 |website=[[Reporters Without Borders]] |language=en |date=March 11, 2011}}</ref> [[Uzbekistan]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Syundyukova |first1=Nazerke |title=Uzbekistan has blocked YouTube social network |url=https://qazaqtimes.com/en/article/48743 |access-date=January 23, 2019 |work=The Qazaq Times |date=October 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Маҳаллий ОАВ: Ўзбекистонда Facebook ва YouTube яна ўчириб қўйилди |trans-title=Local Media: YouTube and Facebook once again blocked in Uzbekistan |url=https://www.ozodlik.org/a/29713088.html |access-date=January 23, 2019 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Uzbek Service |date=January 16, 2019 |language=uz}}</ref> [[Tajikistan]], [[Eritrea]], [[Sudan]] and [[South Sudan]]. In some countries, YouTube is blocked for more limited periods of time such as during periods of unrest, the run-up to an election, or in response to upcoming political anniversaries. In cases where the entire site is banned due to one particular video, YouTube will often agree to remove or limit access to that video in order to restore service.<ref name="ONIYouTubeCensored" />

Reports emerged that since October 2019, comments posted with Chinese characters insulting the [[Chinese Communist Party]] ([[wikt:共匪|共匪]] "communist bandit" or [[wikt:五毛|五毛]] "[[50 Cent Party]]", referring to [[State-sponsored Internet propaganda|state-sponsored commentators]]) were being automatically deleted within 15 seconds.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vincent |first1=James |title=YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult China's Communist Party |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21270290/youtube-deleting-comments-censorship-chinese-communist-party-ccp |work=The Verge |date=May 26, 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Specific incidents where YouTube has been blocked include:
* [[Thailand]] blocked access in April 2007 over a video said to be insulting the [[Monarchy of Thailand|Thai king]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Thailand Bans YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/business/worldbusiness/05tube.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 5, 2007}}</ref>
* Morocco blocked access in May 2007, possibly as a result of videos critical of [[Political status of Western Sahara|Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara]].<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube site 'blocked' in Morocco |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6702973.stm |access-date=December 25, 2013 |date=May 29, 2007}}</ref> YouTube became accessible again on May 30, 2007, after ''Maroc Telecom'' unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was a mere "technical glitch".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ar.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22322 |title=YouTube again accessible via Maroc Telecom |date=May 30, 2007 |access-date=May 30, 2007 |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416003945/http://ar.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22322 |archive-date=April 16, 2013}}</ref> 
* Turkey blocked access between 2008 and 2010 after controversy over videos deemed insulting to [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeffrey |last=Rosen |title=Google's Gatekeepers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30google-t.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 28, 2008 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|905061951}}}}</ref><ref name="bbc turkey">{{cite news |title=Turkey goes into battle with Google |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10480877.stm |work=BBC News |date=July 2, 2010 |access-date=July 3, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey lifts two-year ban on YouTube |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11659816 |date=October 30, 2010 |access-date=October 31, 2010}}</ref> In November 2010, a video of the Turkish politician [[Deniz Baykal]] caused the site to be blocked again briefly, and the site was threatened with a new shutdown if it did not remove the video.<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey Reinstates YouTube Ban |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590420251199614.html?mod=googlenews_wsj |date=November 2, 2010 |access-date=November 2, 2010 |first=Marc |last=Champion}}</ref> During the two and a half-year block of YouTube, the video-sharing website remained the eighth-most-accessed site in Turkey.<ref>{{Citation |title=Turkey report |date=September 24, 2012 |url=https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/turkey#_ftn21 |work=Freedom on the Net 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927235933/https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/turkey#_ftn21 |url-status=dead |publisher=Freedom House |archive-date=September 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/TR |title=Top Sites in Turkey |publisher=[[Alexa Internet]] |access-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217112619/https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/TR |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, Turkey blocked the access for the second time, after "a high-level intelligence leak".<ref>{{cite web |first=Michael |last=B. Kelley |title=YouTube Blocked in Turkey Amid High-Level Intelligence Leak |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-blocked-in-turkey-2014-3 |website=[[Business Insider]] |date=March 27, 2014 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26773702 |title=Turkey moves to block YouTube access after 'audio leak' |newspaper=BBC News|publisher=[[BBC]] |date=March 27, 2014 |access-date=March 27, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-banned-turkey-n63776 |title=YouTube Banned in Turkey |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=March 27, 2014 |access-date=March 27, 2014 |last1=Wagstaff |first1=Keith}}</ref>
* Pakistan blocked access on February 23, 2008, because of "offensive material" towards the Islamic faith, including display of the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|Danish cartoons]] of [[Muhammad]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan blocks YouTube website |publisher=BBC |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7261727.stm |access-date=November 30, 2008 |date=February 24, 2008}}</ref> This led to a near global blackout of the YouTube site for around two hours, as the Pakistani block was inadvertently transferred to other countries. On February 26, 2008, the ban was lifted after the website had removed the objectionable content from its servers at the request of the government.<ref name="PAK-ban-lifted">{{cite news |title=Pakistan lifts YouTube ban |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/27/2173501.htm?section=world |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080301140400/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/27/2173501.htm?section=world |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 1, 2008 |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |date=February 26, 2008 |access-date=February 26, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan lifts the ban on YouTube |publisher=BBC |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7262071.stm |access-date=November 30, 2008 |date=February 26, 2008}}</ref> Many Pakistanis circumvented the three-day block by using [[virtual private network]] software.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pakistan web users get round YouTube ban |publisher=Silicon Republic |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single10381 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629065235/https://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single10381 |archive-date=June 29, 2008 |access-date=November 30, 2008}}</ref> In May 2010, following the [[Everybody Draw Mohammed Day]], Pakistan again blocked access to YouTube, citing "growing sacrilegious content".<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan blocks access to YouTube in internet crackdown |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/10130195.stm |access-date=May 20, 2010 |date=May 20, 2010}}</ref> The ban was lifted on May 27, 2010, after the website removed the objectionable content from its servers at the request of the government. However, individual videos deemed offensive to Muslims posted on YouTube will continue to be blocked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCabe |first=Joanne |date=May 27, 2010 |title=YouTube ban lifted by Pakistan authorities |work=Metro |publisher=Associated Newspapers Limited |url=https://www.metro.co.uk/news/828161-youtube-ban-lifted-by-pakistan-authorities |url-status=dead |access-date=September 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722062958/http://www.metro.co.uk/news/828161-youtube-ban-lifted-by-pakistan-authorities |archive-date=July 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 27, 2010 |title=Pakistan lifts ban on YouTube |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-lifts-ban-on-YouTube/articleshow/5978581.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507082318/https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-05-27/pakistan/28304621_1_blasphemous-caricatures-blasphemous-material-sacrilegious-content|archive-date=May 7, 2013 }}</ref> Pakistan again placed a ban on YouTube in September 2012, after the site refused to remove the film ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]''. The ban was lifted in January 2016 after YouTube launched a Pakistan-specific version.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan unblocks access to YouTube |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35345872 |access-date=January 27, 2016 |work=BBC News |date=January 18, 2016}}</ref>
* Libya blocked access on January 24, 2010, because of videos that featured demonstrations in the city of [[Benghazi]] by families of detainees who were [[Abu Salim Prison massacre|killed in Abu Salim prison in 1996]], and videos of family members of Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] at parties. The blocking was criticized by [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gMqNCaIpcd74x_33F16sT_6IDriw |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209004610/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gMqNCaIpcd74x_33F16sT_6IDriw |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2010 |title=Watchdog urges Libya to stop blocking websites |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=February 7, 2010}}</ref> In November 2011, after the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]], YouTube was once again allowed in Libya.<ref>{{Citation |title=Libya |date=September 24, 2012 |url=https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/libya |work=Freedom on the Net 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927235826/https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2012/libya |url-status=dead |publisher=Freedom House |archive-date=September 27, 2012}}</ref>
* [[Afghanistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Sudan]] blocked access in September 2012 following [[Reactions to Innocence of Muslims|controversy]] over a 14-minute trailer for the film ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'' which had been posted on the site.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 1, 2012 |title=Afghanistan to unblock YouTube |work=Afghanistan Times |url=https://www.afghanistantimes.af/news_details.php?id=1654&&cid=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117060611/https://www.afghanistantimes.af/news_details.php?id=1654&&cid=1 |archive-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Arghandiwal |first=Miriam |date=September 12, 2012 |title=Afghanistan bans YouTube to block anti-Muslim film |work=Reuters |location=Kabul |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-youtube-idUSBRE88B0SC20120912 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170643/https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-afghanistan-youtube-idUSBRE88B0SC20120912 |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 18, 2012 |title=YouTube blocked in Bangladesh over Prophet Mohamed video |work=The Independent |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/youtube-blocked-in-bangladesh-over-prophet-mohamed-video-8152056.html |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824171641/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/youtube-blocked-in-bangladesh-over-prophet-mohamed-video-8152056.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Haley |last=Tsukayama |title=YouTube blocked in Pakistan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/youtube-blocked-in-pakistan/2012/09/17/30081fa2-00ea-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 17, 2012 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan, Bangladesh Block YouTube Amid Islam Film Protests |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-18/pakistan-bangladesh-block-youtube-to-restrict-anti-islam-film.html |access-date=September 18, 2012 |date=September 18, 2012 |first=Arun |last=Devnath}}</ref> A court in the southern Russian Republic of [[Chechnya]] ruled that ''Innocence of Muslims'' should be banned.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian court bans anti-Islam film |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-134721-Russian-court-bans-anti-Islam-film |newspaper=The News |date=September 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117060611/https://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-134721-Russian-court-bans-anti-Islam-film |archive-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> In Libya and [[Egypt]], it was blamed for violent protests. YouTube stated: "This video—which is widely available on the Web—is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. However, given the very difficult situation in Libya and Egypt we have temporarily restricted access in both countries."<ref>{{cite news |title='Innocence of Muslims': Mystery shrouds film's California origins |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-xpm-2012-sep-12-la-fg-libya-filmmaker-20120913-story.html |access-date=March 1, 2019 |date=September 12, 2012 |first1=Phil |last1=Willon |first2=Rebecca |last2=Keegan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube restricts video access over Libyan violence |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/12/tech/web/youtube-violence-libya/index.html?hpt=hp_c3 |access-date=September 13, 2012 |date=September 12, 2012}}</ref>
* Following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in February 2022, YouTube announced on March 1 the immediate removal of [[RT (TV network)|RT]] (and other Russian government-funded outlets) from its platform in Europe. The removal was soon expanded globally.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/youtube-block-channels-linked-russias-rt-sputnik-across-europe-2022-03-01/ |title=YouTube to block channels linked to Russia's RT and Sputnik across Europe |work=Reuters |date=March 1, 2022 |access-date=March 1, 2022}}</ref> From late 2024, users across Russia started experiencing sharp declines in YouTube loading speeds.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/01/youtube-users-across-russia-report-sharp-decline-in-loading-speeds-a85902|title=YouTube Users Across Russia Report Sharp Decline in Loading Speeds|access-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref>
* Following controversial commentary on the show [[India's Got Latent]], concerns were raised in the [[zero hour]] of [[Parliament of India|parliament]] regarding the regulation of content on YouTube (which has an enormous user base in India), particularly content that may have an adverse influence, especially on children.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-02-11 |title=Trouble mounts for Ranveer Allahbadia & others linked to Samay Raina's show: Top developments |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/trouble-mounts-for-ranveer-allahbadia-others-linked-to-samay-rainas-show-indias-got-latent-top-developments/articleshow/118151638.cms |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

== Social impact ==
{{Main|Social impact of YouTube}}

Private individuals<ref name="Reuters20070225" /> and large production corporations<ref name="WiredUK20131127">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/27/youtube-community |title=The rise and fall of YouTube's celebrity pioneers |last=Tufnell |first=Nicholas |date=November 27, 2013 |magazine=Wired UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110202429/https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/27/youtube-community |url-status=live |archive-date=January 10, 2014}}</ref> have used YouTube to grow their audiences. Indie creators have built grassroots followings numbering in the thousands at very little cost or effort, while mass retail and radio promotion proved problematic.<ref name="Reuters20070225">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-youtube-idUSN2518918320070226 |title=YouTube stars don't always welcome record deals |last=Bruno |first=Antony |date=February 25, 2007 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106071553/https://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/26/us-youtube-idUSN2518918320070226 |archive-date=January 6, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Concurrently, [[old media]] celebrities moved into the website at the invitation of a YouTube management that witnessed early content creators accruing substantial followings and perceived audience sizes potentially larger than that attainable by television.<ref name="WiredUK20131127" /> While YouTube's revenue-sharing "Partner Program" made it possible to earn a substantial living as a [[Video production|video producer]]—its top five hundred partners each earning more than $100,000 annually<ref name="NewYorker20120116">{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all |title=Streaming Dreams / YouTube turns pro |magazine=The New Yorker |last=Seabrook |first=John |date=January 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108081333/https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all |archive-date=January 8, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and its ten highest-earning channels grossing from $2.5&nbsp;million to $12&nbsp;million<ref name="Forbes20151113">{{cite magazine |last1=Berg |first1=Madeline |title=The World's Top-Earning YouTube Stars 2015 |url=http://www3.forbes.com/business/the-worlds-top-earning-youtube-stars-2015/ |magazine=Forbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407012054/https://www3.forbes.com/business/the-worlds-top-earning-youtube-stars-2015/ |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |url-status=live |date=November 2015}} • {{cite magazine |last1=Berg |first1=Madeline |title=The World's Top-Earning YouTube Stars 2015 / 1. PewDiePie: $12{{nbsp}}million |url=http://www2.forbes.com/business/the-worlds-top-earning-youtube-stars-2015/11/ |magazine=Forbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120132944/https://www3.forbes.com/business/the-worlds-top-earning-youtube-stars-2015/11/ |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |url-status=live |date=November 2015}}</ref>—in 2012 [[Complete Music Update|CMU]] business editor characterized YouTube as "a free-to-use ... promotional platform for the music labels."<ref name="BBC20121221">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20812870 |title=Gangnam Style hits one billion views on YouTube |date=December 21, 2012 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115080304/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20812870 |archive-date=January 15, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2013 ''[[Forbes]]''{{'}} Katheryn Thayer asserted that digital-era artists' work must not only be of high quality, but must elicit reactions on the YouTube platform and social media.<ref name="Forbes20131029">{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherynthayer/2013/10/29/the-youtube-music-awards-why-artists-should-care/ |title=The Youtube Music Awards: Why Artists Should Care |last=Thayer |first=Katheryn |date=October 29, 2013 |website=Forbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102005910/https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherynthayer/2013/10/29/the-youtube-music-awards-why-artists-should-care/ |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Videos of the 2.5% of artists categorized as "mega", "mainstream" and "mid-sized" received 90.3% of the relevant views on YouTube and Vevo in that year.<ref name="NextBigSound2013YearInRewind">{{cite web |url=https://www.nextbigsound.com/industryreport/2013/ |title=2013: Year in Rewind (report title) / Mapping the Landscape (specific section title) |date=January 2014 |publisher=[[Next Big Sound]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121225546/https://www.nextbigsound.com/industryreport/2013 |archive-date=January 21, 2014 |url-status=dead}} "Developing" artists 6.9%; "Undiscovered" artists 2.8%.</ref> By early 2013, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' had announced that it was factoring YouTube streaming data into calculation of the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and related genre charts.<ref name="Billboard20130220">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1549399/hot-100-news-billboard-and-nielsen-add-youtube-video-streaming-to-platforms |title=Hot 100 News: Billboard and Nielsen Add YouTube Video Streaming to Platforms |date=February 20, 2013 |magazine=Billboard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129170847/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1549399/hot-100-news-billboard-and-nielsen-add-youtube-video-streaming-to-platforms |archive-date=January 29, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Jordan Hoffner at the 68th Annual Peabody Awards for YouTube.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Jordan Hoffner at the 68th Annual [[Peabody Awards]] accepting for YouTube]]

Observing that face-to-face communication of the type that online videos convey has been "fine-tuned by millions of years of evolution", [[TED (conference)|TED]] curator [[Chris Anderson (entrepreneur)|Chris Anderson]] referred to several YouTube contributors and asserted that "what [[Johannes Gutenberg|Gutenberg]] did for writing, online video can now do for face-to-face communication."<ref name="TED201007Anderson">{{cite web |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html |title=How web video powers global innovation |last=Anderson |first=Chris |date=July 2010 |publisher=[[TED (conference)]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202000212/https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=dead}} (click on "Show transcript" tab) • Corresponding [https://web.archive.org/web/20131231115225/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnQcCgS7aPQ YouTube video] from official TED channel was titled "How YouTube is driving innovation."</ref> Anderson asserted that it is not far-fetched to say that online video will dramatically accelerate scientific advance, and that video contributors may be about to launch "the biggest learning cycle in human history."<ref name="TED201007Anderson" /> In education, for example, the [[Khan Academy]] grew from YouTube video tutoring sessions for founder Salman Khan's cousin into what ''Forbes{{'}}'' Michael Noer called "the largest school in the world", with technology poised to [[disruptive innovation|disrupt]] how people learn.<ref name="Forbes20121102">{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/11/02/one-man-one-computer-10-million-students-how-khan-academy-is-reinventing-education/print/ |title=One Man, One Computer, 10{{nbsp}}Million Students: How Khan Academy Is Reinventing Education |last=Noer |first=Michael |date=November 2, 2012 |website=Forbes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204052929/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/11/02/one-man-one-computer-10-million-students-how-khan-academy-is-reinventing-education/ |archive-date=December 4, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> YouTube was awarded a 2008 [[George Foster Peabody Award]],<ref>[https://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/youtube.com YouTube.com (award profile), "Winner 2008"], peabodyawards.com, May 2009. ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114050222/https://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/youtube.com |date=January 14, 2016 }} from the original on January 14, 2016).</ref> the website being described as a [[Speakers' Corner]] that "both embodies and promotes democracy."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=James |last=Poniewozik |title=Nonprofit Press Release Theater: Peabody Awards Announced |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2009/04/01/nonprofit-press-release-theater-peabody-awards-announced/ |magazine=Time |date=April 1, 2009 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> ''The Washington Post'' reported that a disproportionate share of YouTube's most-subscribed channels feature minorities, contrasting with mainstream television in which the stars are largely white.<ref>{{cite news |first=Haley |last=Tsukayama |title=In online video, minorities find an audience |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-online-video-minorities-find-an-audience/2012/04/20/gIQAdhliWT_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 20, 2012 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> A [[Pew Research Center]] study reported the development of "visual journalism", in which citizen eyewitnesses and established news organizations share in content creation.<ref name="PEW20120716">{{cite web |url=https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/press-release-2/ |title=PEJ: YouTube & News: A New Kind of Visual Journalism Is Developing, but Ethics of Attribution Have Yet to Emerge |date=July 16, 2012 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000334/https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/press-release-2/ |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The study also concluded that YouTube was becoming an important platform by which people acquire news.<ref name="PewYTnews20120716">{{cite web |url=https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/youtube-news/ |title=YouTube and News: A New Kind of Visual News |date=July 16, 2012 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001742/https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/youtube-news/ |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

YouTube has enabled people to more directly engage with government, such as in the [[CNN/YouTube presidential debates]] (2007) in which ordinary people submitted questions to U.S. presidential candidates via YouTube video, with a [[techPresident]] co-founder saying that Internet video was changing the political landscape.<ref>{{cite news |first=Katharine |last=Q. Seelye |title=New Presidential Debate Site? Clearly, YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/us/politics/13cnd-youtube.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 13, 2007 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> Describing the [[Arab Spring]] (2010–2012), sociologist [[Philip N. Howard]] quoted an activist's succinct description that organizing the political unrest involved using "Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world."<ref name="PacificStd20110223">{{cite web |url=https://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575 |title=The Arab Spring's Cascading Effects |last=Howard |first=Philip N. |date=February 23, 2011 |website=Pacific Standard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108053257/https://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012, more than a third of the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution condemning [[Joseph Kony]] 16 days after the "[[Kony 2012]]" video was posted to YouTube, with resolution co-sponsor Senator [[Lindsey Graham]] remarking that the video "will do more to lead to (Kony's) demise than all other action combined."<ref name="Politico20120322">{{cite web |url=https://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=76ECD47B-6BE4-4703-BC79-E7955A4DE0D6 |title=Joseph Kony captures Congress' attention |last=Wong |first=Scott |date=March 22, 2012 |website=Politico |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108184459/https://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=76ECD47B-6BE4-4703-BC79-E7955A4DE0D6 |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:ObamaYouTubers307.png|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Prominent YouTube content creators met at the White House with U.S. President Obama to discuss how government could better connect with the "YouTube generation".<ref name="Tubefilter20140302" /><ref name="WhiteHouse20140306">{{cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Brad L. |title=YouTube Stars Talk Health Care (and Make History) at the White House |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/03/06/youtube-stars-talk-health-care-and-make-history-white-house |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128005716/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/03/06/youtube-stars-talk-health-care-and-make-history-white-house |archive-date=January 28, 2017 |location=Washington, D.C. |date=March 6, 2014 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Conversely, YouTube has also allowed government to more easily engage with citizens, the [[White House]]'s official YouTube channel being the seventh top news organization producer on YouTube in 2012<ref name="PewWhiteHouse20120716">{{cite web |url=https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/youtube-video-creationa-shared-process/ |title=YouTube Video Creation – A Shared Process |date=July 16, 2012 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231055631/https://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/youtube-video-creationa-shared-process/ |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 2013 a healthcare exchange commissioned Obama impersonator [[Iman Crosson]]'s YouTube music video spoof to encourage young Americans to enroll in the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)]]-compliant health insurance.<ref name="LATimes20131212">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-obamacare-hollywood-new-social-media-campaign-20131212,0,2435151.story |title=Round 2: Obamacare and Hollywood open new social media campaign |last=Reston |first=Maeve |date=December 12, 2013 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212184345/https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-obamacare-hollywood-new-social-media-campaign-20131212,0,2435151.story |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In February 2014, U.S. President Obama held a meeting at the White House with leading YouTube content creators not only to promote awareness of Obamacare<ref name="Buzzfeed20140302">{{cite news |last=McMorris-Santoro |first=Evan |title=Obama Enlisted YouTube Personalities For Final Health Care Enrollment Push Last Week |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/obama-enlisted-youtube-personalities-for-final-health-care-e |website=Buzzfeed |date=March 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303172252/https://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/obama-enlisted-youtube-personalities-for-final-health-care-e |archive-date=March 3, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but more generally to develop ways for government to better connect with the "YouTube Generation".<ref name="Tubefilter20140302">{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Joshua |title=Obama Meets With YouTube Advisors on How To Reach Online Audiences |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2014/03/02/obama-meets-with-youtube-advisors-on-how-to-reach-online-audiences/ |website=Tubefilter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306020608/https://www.tubefilter.com/2014/03/02/obama-meets-with-youtube-advisors-on-how-to-reach-online-audiences/ |archive-date=March 6, 2014 |date=March 2, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Whereas YouTube's inherent ability to allow presidents to directly connect with average citizens was noted, the YouTube content creators' [[new media]] savvy was perceived necessary to better cope with the website's distracting content and fickle audience.<ref name="Tubefilter20140302" />

Some YouTube videos have themselves had a direct effect on world events, such as ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'' (2012) which spurred [[Reactions to Innocence of Muslims|protests and related anti-American violence]] internationally.<ref name="CNN20120914">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/meast/embassy-attacks-main/ |title=U.S. warns of rising threat of violence amid outrage over anti-Islam video |date=September 14, 2012 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116033002/https://www.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/meast/embassy-attacks-main/ |archive-date=November 16, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> TED curator Chris Anderson described a phenomenon by which geographically distributed individuals in a certain field share their independently developed skills in YouTube videos, thus challenging others to improve their own skills, and spurring invention and evolution in that field.<ref name="TED201007Anderson" /> Journalist [[Virginia Heffernan]] stated in ''The New York Times'' that such videos have "surprising implications" for the dissemination of culture and even the future of classical music.<ref>{{cite news |first=Virginia |last=Heffernan |title=Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/arts/television/27heff.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 27, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|93082065}}}}</ref>

A 2017 article in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' posited that YouTube had become "the new [[Conservative talk radio|talk radio]]" for the [[Far-right politics|far right]].<ref name="NYTimes20170803">{{cite magazine |last1=Herrman |first1=John |title=For the New Far Right, YouTube Has Become the New Talk Radio |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/for-the-new-far-right-youtube-has-become-the-new-talk-radio.html |magazine=The New York Times Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803175402/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/for-the-new-far-right-youtube-has-become-the-new-talk-radio.html |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |date=August 3, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Almost a year before YouTube's January 2019 announcement that it would begin a "gradual change" of "reducing [[Recommender system|recommendations]] of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways",<ref name="YTblog20190125">{{cite web |title=Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube |url=https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/01/continuing-our-work-to-improve.html |website=YouTube.GoogleBlog.com |date=January 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125163130/https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/01/continuing-our-work-to-improve.html |archive-date=January 25, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Zeynep Tufekci had written in ''The New York Times'' that, "(g)iven its billion or so users, YouTube may be one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century".<ref name="NYTimes20180310">{{cite news |last1=Tufekci |first1=Zeynep |title=YouTube, the Great Radicalizer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/opinion/sunday/youtube-politics-radical.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122035903/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/opinion/sunday/youtube-politics-radical.html |archive-date=January 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Under YouTube's changes to its recommendation engine, the most-recommended channel evolved from conspiracy theorist [[Alex Jones]] (2016) to [[Fox News]] (2019).<ref name="NYTimes_20201103">{{cite news |last1=Nicas |first1=Jack |title=YouTube Cut Down Misinformation. Then It Boosted Fox News / To battle false information, YouTube cut its recommendations to fringe channels and instead promoted major networks, especially Fox News. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/technology/youtube-misinformation-fox-news.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104015452/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/technology/youtube-misinformation-fox-news.html |archive-date=November 4, 2020}}</ref> According to a 2020 study, viewership of far-right videos on YouTube peaked in 2017 and "a growing body of journalistic evidence" suggested that YouTube was radicalizing young men through its recommendation engine, but that such evidence was "fraught with a bias towards sensationalism". It also found more "mainstream-adjacent Conservative creators" gaining over [[alt-right]] and extremist videos by 2020.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Munger |first1=Kevin |last2=Phillips |first2=Joseph |date=October 21, 2020 |title=Right-Wing YouTube: A Supply and Demand Perspective |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1940161220964767 |journal=The International Journal of Press/Politics |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=186–219 |doi=10.1177/1940161220964767 |s2cid=226339609 |issn=1940-1612|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A 2022 study found that "despite widespread concerns that YouTube's algorithms send people down 'rabbit holes' with recommendations to extremist videos, little systematic evidence exists to support this conjecture", and that such exposure was "heavily concentrated among a small group of people with high prior levels of gender and racial resentment."<ref name="ChenEtAl_20220422">* {{cite arXiv |last1=Chen |first1=Annie Y. |last2=Nyhan |first2=Brendan |last3=Reifler |first3=Jason |last4=Robertson |first4=Ronald E. |last5=Wilson |first5=Christo |title=Subscriptions and external links help drive resentful users to alternative and extremist YouTube videos |date=April 22, 2022 |class=cs.SI |eprint=2204.10921}}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Wolfe |first1=Liz |title=YouTube Algorithms Don't Turn Unsuspecting Masses Into Extremists, New Study Suggests / A new study casts doubt on the most prominent theories about extremism-by-algorithm |url=https://reason.com/2022/04/26/youtube-algorithms-dont-turn-unsuspecting-masses-into-extremists-new-study-suggests/ |magazine=Reason |date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426124312/https://reason.com/2022/04/26/youtube-algorithms-dont-turn-unsuspecting-masses-into-extremists-new-study-suggests/ |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> A 2024 study by the [[Institute for Strategic Dialogue]] found that YouTube frequently recommended Christian videos and right-leaning and culturally conservative "[[culture war]]" videos by Fox News and male lifestyle [[influencers]] to accounts that did not show an interest in such topics.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shapero |first1=Julia |title=Research finds pattern of YouTube recommending right-leaning, Christian videos |url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4727588-research-finds-pattern-of-youtube-recommending-right-leaning-christian-videos/ |work=The Hill |date=June 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002193412/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4727588-research-finds-pattern-of-youtube-recommending-right-leaning-christian-videos/ |archive-date=October 2, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers]]''<ref name="TED201002LXD">{{cite web |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/the_lxd_in_the_internet_age_dance_evolves.html |title=The LXD: In the Internet age, dance evolves |last=Chu |first=Jon M. |date=February 2010 |publisher=[[TED (conference)]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104063431/https://www.ted.com/talks/the_lxd_in_the_internet_age_dance_evolves.html |archive-date=January 4, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[YouTube Symphony Orchestra]]<ref name="Reuters20090414" /> selected their membership based on individual video performances.<ref name="TED201007Anderson" /><ref name="Reuters20090414">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-youtube-idUSTRE53D4PE20090414 |title=YouTube orchestra prepares for Carnegie debut |last1=Nichols |first1=Michelle (reporter) |editor-last=Simao |editor-first=Paul |date=April 14, 2009 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921182641/https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/14/us-youtube-idUSTRE53D4PE20090414 |archive-date=September 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Further, the cyber-collaboration charity video "[[We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube edition)]]" was formed by mixing performances of 57 globally distributed singers into a single musical work,<ref name="CNNtranscripts201003">{{cite news |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/06/cnr.02.html |title=CNN Newsroom |last=Levs |first=((Josh (interviewer))) |date=March 6, 2010 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313010623/https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/06/cnr.02.html |archive-date=March 13, 2010 |url-status=dead}} Also [https://web.archive.org/web/20100313004701/https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/06/smn.01.html CNN Saturday Morning News] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20101023042008/https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/07/sm.01.html CNN Sunday Morning] (archives).</ref> with ''The Tokyo Times'' noting the "We Pray for You" YouTube cyber-collaboration video as an example of a trend to use crowdsourcing for charitable purposes.<ref name="TokyoTimes20110511">{{cite web |url=https://www.tokyotimes.jp/post/en/1829/Crowdsourcing+After+Quakebook+We+Pray+For+You.html |title=Crowdsourcing: After Quakebook, We Pray For You |last=Smart |first=Richard |date=May 11, 2011 |website=The Tokyo Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612153700/https://www.tokyotimes.jp/post/en/1829/Crowdsourcing+After+Quakebook+We+Pray+For+You.html |archive-date=June 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The anti-bullying [[It Gets Better Project]] expanded from a single YouTube video directed to discouraged or [[Suicide among LGBT youth|suicidal LGBT teens]],<ref name="SFChronicle20101008">{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dan-Savage-overwhelmed-by-gay-outreach-s-response-3171312.php |title=Dan Savage overwhelmed by gay outreach's response |last=Hartlaub |first=Peter |date=October 8, 2010 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104120324/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dan-Savage-overwhelmed-by-gay-outreach-s-response-3171312.php |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> that within two months drew video responses from hundreds including U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], Vice President Biden, White House staff, and several cabinet secretaries.<ref name="WhiteHouseItGetsBetter">{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/it-gets-better |title=It Gets Better |publisher=White House |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102042529/https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/it-gets-better |archive-date=January 2, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Similarly, in response to fifteen-year-old [[Suicide of Amanda Todd|Amanda Todd]]'s video "My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self-harm", legislative action was undertaken almost immediately after her suicide to study the prevalence of bullying and form a national anti-bullying strategy.<ref name="CanadaTV20121014">{{cite web |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/in-wake-of-amanda-todd-suicide-mps-to-debate-anti-bullying-motion-1.995254 |title=In wake of Amanda Todd suicide, MPs to debate anti-bullying motion |date=October 14, 2012 |publisher=CTV News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029213910/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/in-wake-of-amanda-todd-suicide-mps-to-debate-anti-bullying-motion-1.995254 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In May 2018, after London [[Metropolitan Police]] claimed that [[UK drill|drill music]] videos glamorizing violence gave rise to [[Gang#Gang violence|gang violence]], YouTube deleted 30 videos.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/29/youtube-deletes-30-music-videos-after-met-link-with-gang-violence |title=YouTube deletes 30 music videos after Met link with gang violence |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=May 28, 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321160833/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/29/youtube-deletes-30-music-videos-after-met-link-with-gang-violence |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Finances ==
Prior to 2020, Google did not provide detailed figures for YouTube's running costs, and YouTube's revenues in 2007 were noted as "[[materiality (auditing)|not material]]" in a regulatory filing.<ref name="Moneyclip">{{cite news |first=Yi-Wyn |last=Yen |date=March 25, 2008 |url=https://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2008/03/25/youtube-looks-for-the-money-clip/ |title=YouTube Looks For the Money Clip |access-date=March 26, 2008 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212192446/https://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2008/03/25/youtube-looks-for-the-money-clip/ |archive-date=February 12, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2008, a ''Forbes'' magazine article projected the 2008 revenue at $200&nbsp;million, noting progress in advertising sales.<ref name="Forbes08">{{cite news |first1=Quentin |last1=Hardy |first2=Evan |last2=Hessel |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0616/050.html |title=GooTube |work=Forbes |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=August 3, 2009}}</ref> In 2012, YouTube's revenue from its ads program was estimated at $3.7&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Wall Street Journal 5.6 Billion Annual revenue" /> In 2013, it nearly doubled and estimated to hit $5.6&nbsp;billion according to [[Emarketer|e-Marketer]],<ref name="Wall Street Journal 5.6 Billion Annual revenue">{{cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/11/streaming-video-means-streaming-dollars-for-youtube/ |title=YouTube Growing Faster Than Thought, Report Says |last1=Winkler |first1=Rolfe |date=December 11, 2013 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=March 28, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Youtube earns 5.6 Billion Yahoo">{{cite web |title=YouTube's ad revenue estimated at $5.6&nbsp;billion |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/video/youtubes-ad-revenue-estimated-5-195900788.html |publisher=YAHOO |access-date=March 28, 2016}}</ref> while others estimated $4.7&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Wall Street Journal 5.6 Billion Annual revenue" /> The vast majority of videos on YouTube are free to view and supported by advertising.<ref name="subscription" /> In May 2013, YouTube introduced a trial scheme of 53 subscription channels with prices ranging from $0.99 to $6.99 a month.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/09/youtube_subscription_channels/ |title=YouTube launches subscriptions with 53 paid channels |work=The Register |first=Neil |last=McAllister |date=May 9, 2013 |access-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref> The move was seen as an attempt to compete with other providers of online subscription services such as [[Netflix]], [[Amazon Prime Video|Amazon Prime]], and [[Hulu]].<ref name="subscription" />

Google first published exact revenue numbers for YouTube in February 2020 as part of Alphabet's 2019 financial report. According to Google, YouTube had made {{USD|15.1 billion}} in ad revenue in 2019, in contrast to {{USD|8.1 billion}} in 2017 and {{USD|11.1 billion}} in 2018. YouTube's revenues made up nearly 10% of the total Alphabet revenue in 2019.<ref name="verge 15b">{{cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-alphabet-earnings-revenue-first-time-reveal-q4-2019 |title=YouTube is a $15{{nbsp}}billion-a-year business, Google reveals for the first time |first=Nick |last=Statt |date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |work=[[The Verge]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2019Q4_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf?cache=05bd9fe |title=Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2019 Results |date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |publisher=[[Alphabet Inc.]]}}</ref> These revenues accounted for approximately 20&nbsp;million subscribers combined between YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscriptions, and 2&nbsp;million subscribers to YouTube TV.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/03/youtube-premium-and-music-20-million-subscribers/ |title=YouTube Premium and Music have 20{{nbsp}}million subscribers |first=Jon |last=Fingas |date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |work=[[Engadget]]}}</ref>

YouTube had $29.2&nbsp;billion ads revenue in 2022, up by $398&nbsp;million from the prior year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=goog-20221231 |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204423000016/goog-20221231.htm |access-date=January 12, 2024 |website=www.sec.gov}}</ref> In Q2 2024, ad revenue rose to $8.66{{nbsp}}billion, up 13% on Q1.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manfredi |first1=Lucas |last2=Cobb |first2=Kayla |title=YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% to $8.66{{nbsp}}Billion in Q2 |url=https://www.thewrap.com/youtube-ad-revenue-q2-2024/ |website=TheWrap |access-date=July 24, 2024 |date=July 23, 2024}}</ref>

=== Partnership with corporations ===
YouTube entered into a marketing and advertising partnership with [[NBC]] in June 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=Online Video: The Market Is Hot, but Business Models Are Fuzzy |url=https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1519 |work=Knowledge@wharton |access-date=July 19, 2012}}</ref> In March 2007, it struck a deal with the [[BBC]] for three channels with BBC content, one for news and two for entertainment.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Weber |title=BBC strikes Google-YouTube deal |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6411017.stm |website=[[BBC News]] |date=March 2, 2007 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> In November 2008, YouTube reached an agreement with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]], [[Lions Gate Entertainment]], and [[CBS]], allowing the companies to post full-length films and television episodes on the site, accompanied by advertisements in a section for U.S. viewers called "Shows". The move was intended to create competition with websites such as Hulu, which features material from NBC, [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], and [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Disney]].<ref>{{cite news |first1=Brad |last1=Stone |first2=Brooks |last2=Barnes |title=MGM to Post Full Films on YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10mgm.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 9, 2008 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|897152483}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Staci |last=D. Kramer |title=It's Official: Disney Joins News Corp., NBCU In Hulu; Deal Includes Some Cable Nets |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/30/AR2009043001853.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Jeff Bezos|Nash Holdings LLC]] |date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> In November 2009, YouTube launched a version of "Shows" available to UK viewers, offering around 4,000 full-length shows from more than 60 partners.<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube launches UK TV section with more than 60 partners |last1=Allen |first1=Katie |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/nov/19/youtube-uk-full-length-shows |access-date=December 13, 2009 |date=November 19, 2009}}</ref> In January 2010, YouTube introduced a film rentals service,<ref>{{cite news |first=Miguel |last=Helft |title=YouTube Takes a Small Step into the Film Rental Market |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/technology/internet/21youtube.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 20, 2010 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|1458355634}}}}</ref> available in many countries, and TV shows can be bought in several countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9674101?hl=en-GB|title=Buy or rent movies and TV shows on YouTube - YouTube Help|website=support.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15214939 |title=YouTube to offer film rentals in the UK |work=BBC News |date=October 7, 2011 |access-date=October 7, 2011}}</ref> The service offers over 6,000 films.<ref>{{cite web |first=Alexia |last=Tsotsis |title=Google Partners With Sony Pictures, Universal And Warner Brothers For YouTube Movies |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/09/google-partners-with-sony-pictures-nbc-universal-and-warner-brothers-for-youtube-movies/ |website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |date=May 9, 2011 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref>

==== 2017 advertiser boycott ====
In March 2017, the government of the United Kingdom pulled its advertising campaigns from YouTube, after reports that its ads had appeared on videos containing extremist content. The government demanded assurances that its advertising would "be delivered safely and appropriately". ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper, as well as other major British and U.S. brands, similarly suspended their advertising on YouTube in response to their advertising appearing near [[offensive content]]. Google stated that it had "begun an extensive review of our advertising policies and have made a public commitment to put in place changes that give brands more control over where their ads appear".<ref name="Bloomberg-adsextremist">{{cite news |title=Google Ad Crisis Spreads as Biggest Marketers Halt Spending |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-22/at-t-halts-spending-on-some-google-ads-after-youtube-controversy |access-date=March 23, 2017 |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=March 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name="bbc-youtubeadsuk">{{cite news |date=March 17, 2017 |title=YouTube: UK government suspends ads amid extremism concerns |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39301712 |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref> In early April 2017, the YouTube channel [[h3h3Productions]] presented evidence claiming that a ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' article had fabricated screenshots showing major brand advertising on an offensive video containing [[Johnny Rebel (singer)|Johnny Rebel]] music overlaid on a [[Chief Keef]] music video, citing that the video itself had not earned any ad revenue for the uploader. The video was retracted after it was found that the ads had been triggered by the use of copyrighted content in the video.<ref name="and-youtubestar">{{cite news |last1=Collins |first1=Ben |date=April 4, 2017 |title=A YouTube Star, Reddit Detectives, and the Alt-Right Call Out a Fake News Story. Turns Out It Was Real. |newspaper=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/04/fake-news-blows-up-in-trolls-faces.html |access-date=April 5, 2017}}</ref><ref name="mashable-h3h3youtube">{{cite web |title=How one little screenshot drove YouTube to the brink |url=https://mashable.com/2017/04/04/youtube-h3h3-what-happened-wsj/ |access-date=April 10, 2017 |website=Mashable |date=April 4, 2017}}</ref>

On April 6, 2017, YouTube announced that to "ensure revenue only flows to creators who are playing by the rules", it would change its practices to require that a channel undergo a policy compliance review, and have at least 10,000-lifetime views, before they may join the YouTube Partner Program.<ref name="verge-10kviewsrule">{{cite web |date=April 6, 2017 |title=YouTube will no longer allow creators to make money until they reach 10,000 views |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/6/15209220/youtube-partner-program-rule-change-monetize-ads-10000-views |access-date=April 6, 2017 |website=The Verge }}</ref>

=== YouTuber earnings ===
[[File:2017- Top earners on YouTube - column chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.25| Total annual earnings of the top ten YouTuber accounts, and the income of the single highest-earning account for 2017]]
In May 2007, YouTube launched its Partner Program (YPP), a system based on [[Google AdSense|AdSense]] which allows the uploader of the video to share the revenue produced by advertising on the site.<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Biggs |title=YouTube Launches Revenue Sharing Partners Program, but no Pre-Rolls |url=https://techcrunch.com/2007/05/04/youtube-launches-revenue-sharing-partners-program-but-no-pre-rolls/ |website=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=[[AOL]] |date=May 4, 2007 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> YouTube typically takes 45 percent of the advertising revenue from videos in the Partner Program, with 55 percent going to the uploader.<ref>{{cite web |first=Tim |last=Carmody |title=It's not TV, it's the Web: YouTube partners complain about Google ads, revenue sharing |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/4062810/youtube-partners-complain-revenue-sharing-google-ads |website=[[The Verge]] |date=March 4, 2013 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref name="u551">{{cite web | last=Edwards | first=Jim | title=The biggest stars on YouTube make huge incomes ... yet they can't keep the vast majority of it | website=Business Insider | date=2015-08-03 | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/money-youtube-stars-actually-make-2014-2 | access-date=2024-09-16}}</ref>

There are over two million members of the YouTube Partner Program.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lyons |first=Kim |date=August 23, 2021 |title= YouTube says its Partner Program now has 2{{nbsp}}million members|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/23/22636827/youtube-partner-program-2-million-members-creators|work=The Verge|access-date=October 23, 2023}}</ref> According to [[TubeMogul]], in 2013 a pre-roll advertisement on YouTube (one that is shown before the video starts) cost advertisers on average $7.60 per 1000 views. Usually, no more than half of the eligible videos have a pre-roll advertisement, due to a lack of interested advertisers.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |first=Leslie |last=Kaufman |title=Chasing Their Star, on YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/business/chasing-their-star-on-youtube.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 1, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|1943327539}}}}</ref>

YouTube's policies restrict certain forms of content from being included in videos being monetized with advertising, including videos containing violence, strong language, sexual content, "controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown" (unless the content is "usually newsworthy or comedic and the creator's intent is to inform or entertain"),<ref name="verge-advertiserfriendly">{{cite news |last1=Robertson |first1=Adi |title=Why is YouTube being accused of censoring vloggers? |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12753108/youtube-is-over-party-advertising-monetization-censorship |access-date=March 19, 2017 |work=The Verge |date=September 1, 2016}}</ref> and videos whose user comments contain "inappropriate" content.<ref name="tubefilter-inappropriatecomments">{{cite web |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/02/22/youtube-videos-demonetized-inappropriate-comments/ |title=After Child Video Scandal, YouTube Says Ad-Friendly Videos Can Be Demonetized For Inappropriate Comments |date=February 22, 2019 |website=Tubefilter |access-date=February 22, 2019}}</ref> In 2013, YouTube introduced an option for channels with at least a thousand subscribers to require a paid subscription for viewers to watch videos.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCue |first1=TJ |title=Google's YouTube Introduces Paid Content Subscriptions |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/30/google-youtube-introduces-paid-content-subscriptions/ |website=Forbes |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to paid content – YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3249127?hl=en |publisher=Google Inc. |access-date=September 16, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> In April 2017, YouTube set an eligibility requirement of 10,000 lifetime views for a paid subscription.<ref name="ypp">{{cite web |title=Additional Changes to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to Better Protect Creators |url=https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2018/01/additional-changes-to-youtube-partner.html |via=YouTube |access-date=January 16, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> On January 16, 2018, the eligibility requirement for monetization was changed to 4,000 hours of watch-time within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers.<ref name="ypp" /> The move was seen as an attempt to ensure that videos being monetized did not lead to controversy, but was criticized for penalizing smaller YouTube channels.<ref name="ypp_guardian">{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Levin |title=YouTube's small creators pay price of policy changes after Logan Paul scandal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/18/youtube-creators-vloggers-ads-logan-paul |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 18, 2018 |access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref>

[[YouTube Play Button]]s, a part of the YouTube Creator Rewards, are a recognition by YouTube of its most popular channels.<ref>{{cite web |ref={{sfnRef|"YouTube Creator Rewards"|n.d.}} |url=https://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/rewards.html |title=YouTube Creator Rewards |via=YouTube |access-date=August 14, 2017}}</ref> The trophies made of nickel plated copper-nickel alloy, golden plated brass, silver plated metal, ruby, and red tinted crystal glass are given to channels with at least one hundred thousand, a million, ten million, fifty million subscribers, and one hundred million subscribers, respectively.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=December 3, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHA2HbNtcG4 |title=What is the Gold Play Button REALLY made of?!? |publisher=JerryRigEverything |via=YouTube |access-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317141729/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHA2HbNtcG4 |archive-date=March 17, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube Sends PewDiePie Custom Ruby Play Button To Commemorate 50{{nbsp}}Million Subscribers |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2016/12/19/pewdiepie-ruby-play-button-youtube-50-million-subscribers/ |website=Tubefilter |access-date=September 16, 2017 |date=December 19, 2016}}</ref>

YouTube's policies on "[[Censorship by Google#Advertiser-friendly content|advertiser-friendly content]]" restrict what may be incorporated into videos being monetized; this includes strong violence, language,<ref name="Spangler Spangler 2019">{{cite news |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=January 14, 2019 |title=YouTube Explains Which Profanities and 'Inappropriate Language' Are Not OK for Ad-Supported Videos |newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/yo'utube-profanity-ad-supported-video-demonetized-1203107619/ |access-date=January 4, 2020}}</ref> sexual content, and "controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown", unless the content is "usually newsworthy or comedic and the creator's intent is to inform or entertain".<ref>{{cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |date=September 1, 2016 |title=Why is YouTube being accused of censoring vloggers? |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12753108/youtube-is-over-party-advertising-monetization-censorship |access-date=March 25, 2017 |website=[[The Verge]] }}</ref> In September 2016, after introducing an enhanced notification system to inform users of these violations, YouTube's policies were criticized by prominent users, including [[Philip DeFranco]] and [[Vlogbrothers]]. DeFranco argued that not being able to earn advertising revenue on such videos was "censorship by a different name". A YouTube spokesperson stated that while the policy itself was not new, the service had "improved the notification and appeal process to ensure better communication to our creators".<ref>{{cite web |last=Guynn |first=Jessica |date=September 2, 2016 |title=YouTubers protest 'advertiser friendly' policy |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/09/01/youtube-creators-advertisers-controversy/89728728/ |access-date=March 26, 2017 |website=[[USA Today]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Mulkerin |first=Tim |date=September 1, 2016 |title=A bunch of famous YouTubers are furious at YouTube right now – here's why |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-stars-advertiser-friendly-content-guidelines-2016-9|website=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=E. Solsman |first=Joan |date=September 1, 2016 |title=Pause the #YouTubeIsOverParty: YouTube isn't pulling more ads from stars' videos |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/pause-the-youtubeisoverparty-youtube-isnt-pulling-more-ads-from-stars-videos/ |access-date=March 25, 2017 |publisher=[[CNET]] }}</ref> ''[[Boing Boing]]'' reported in 2019 that LGBT keywords resulted in demonetization.<ref name="Beschizza 2019">{{cite web |last=Beschizza |first=Rob |date=October 2, 2019 |title=YouTube demonetizing videos where LGBTQ keywords are said |url=https://boingboing.net/2019/10/02/youtube-demonetizing-videos-wh.html |access-date=January 4, 2020 |website=[[Boing Boing]]}}</ref>

In the United States as of November 2020, and June 2021 worldwide,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 21, 2020 |title=YouTube announces changes in its terms of services |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/youtube-announces-changes-in-its-terms-of-services/cid/1816154 |access-date=May 23, 2021 |website=The Telegraph (India)}}</ref> YouTube reserves the right to monetize any video on the platform, even if their uploader is not a member of the YouTube Partner Program. This will occur on channels whose content is deemed "advertiser-friendly", and all revenue will go directly to Google without any share given to the uploader.<ref>{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Megan |date=November 19, 2020 |title=YouTube will put ads on non-partner videos but won't pay the creators |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/youtube-will-put-ads-on-non-partner-videos-but-wont-pay-the-creators.html |access-date=May 23, 2021 |publisher=CNBC |language=en}}</ref>

=== Revenue to copyright holders ===
The majority of YouTube's advertising revenue goes to the publishers and video producers who hold the rights to their videos; the company retains 45% of the ad revenue.<ref>Garett Sloane, [https://adage.com/article/digital/youtube-ad-revenue-disclosed-google-first-time-topped-15-billion-2019/2233811 YouTube Ad Revenue, disclosed by Google for the first time, topped $15{{nbsp}}billion in 2019], ''Advertising Age'' (February 3, 2020).</ref> In 2010, it was reported that nearly a third of the videos with advertisements were uploaded without permission of the copyright holders. YouTube gives an option for copyright holders to locate and remove their videos or to have them continue running for revenue.<ref>{{cite news |first=Claire Cain |last=Miller |title=YouTube Ads Turn Videos into Revenue |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/technology/03youtube.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 2, 2010 |access-date=March 26, 2017 |id={{ProQuest|1461135701}}}}</ref> In May 2013, [[Nintendo]] began enforcing its copyright ownership and claiming the advertising revenue from video creators who posted screenshots of its games.<ref>{{cite web |first=Keza |last=MacDonald |title=Nintendo enforces copyright on YouTube Let's Plays |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/16/nintendo-enforces-copyright-on-youtube-lets-plays |website=[[IGN]] |publisher=[[j2 Global]] |date=May 16, 2013 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> In February 2015, Nintendo agreed to share the revenue with the video creators through the Nintendo Creators Program.<ref>{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Tassi |title=Nintendo Updates Their Bad YouTube Policies By Making Them Worse |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/02/06/nintendo-updates-their-bad-youtube-policies-by-making-them-worse/ |website=[[Forbes]] |date=February 6, 2015 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Eric |last=Johnson |title=Nintendo Wants YouTubers to Pretend Its Competitors' Games Don't Exist |url=https://www.recode.net/2015/2/4/11558648/nintendo-wants-youtubers-to-pretend-its-competitors-games-dont-exist |website=[[Recode]] |date=February 4, 2015 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Patricia |last=Hernandez |title=Nintendo's YouTube Plan Is Already Being Panned By YouTubers [Update] |url=https://kotaku.com/nintendos-youtube-plan-is-already-being-panned-by-youtu-1682527904 |website=[[Kotaku]] |publisher=[[Univision Communications]] |date=January 29, 2015 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref> On March 20, 2019, Nintendo announced on Twitter that the company will end the Creators program. Operations for the program ceased on March 20, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Plunkett |first=Luke |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Nintendo's Controversial Creators Program Is Shutting Down |url=https://kotaku.com/nintendos-controversial-creators-program-is-shutting-do-1830728813 |access-date=October 20, 2021 |website=Kotaku |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kent |first=Emma |date=November 29, 2018 |title=Nintendo scraps controversial Creators Program, making life easier for YouTubers |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-29-nintendo-scraps-creators-program-making-life-much-easier-for-youtubers |access-date=October 20, 2021 |website=Eurogamer |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Companies|Internet|San Francisco Bay Area|United States}}
* Lists
** [[Comparison of video hosting services]]
** [[List of Google Easter eggs#YouTube]]
** [[List of Internet phenomena]]
** [[List of most-disliked YouTube videos]]
** [[List of most-liked YouTube videos]]
** [[List of most-viewed YouTube videos]]
** [[List of most-subscribed YouTube channels]]
** [[List of online video platforms]]
** [[List of YouTubers]]
* Lawsuits
** ''[[Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.]]''
** ''[[Garcia v. Google, Inc.]]''
** ''[[Ouellette v. Viacom International Inc.]]''
{{div col}}
* [[Criticism of Google#Algorithms]]
* [[iFilm]]
* [[Google Video]]
* [[Metacafe]]
* [[Revver]]
* [[vMix]]
* [[blip.tv]]
* [[VideoSift]]
* [[Invidious]], a free and open-source alternative frontend to YouTube
* [[Alternative media]]
* [[BookTube]]
* [[BreadTube]]
* [[CNN/YouTube presidential debates]]
* [[YouTube copyright issues]]
* [[Reply girl]]
* [[YouTube Awards]]
* [[YouTube Creator Awards]]
* [[YouTube Instant]]
* [[YouTube Live]]
* [[Multi-channel network]]
* [[YouTube Music Awards]]
* [[YouTube Rewind]]
* [[YouTube Theater]]
* [[YouTube Poop]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Notefoot}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Bergen |first=Mark |year=2022 |title=Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Dominance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zhTEAAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-593-29634-9 |oclc=1289250597}}
* {{cite web |last=Dickey |first=Megan Rose |title=The 22 Key Turning Points in the History of YouTube |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2 |website=[[Business Insider]] |date=February 15, 2013 |access-date=March 25, 2017}}
* {{cite book |last=Kelsey |first=Todd |title=Social Networking Spaces: From Facebook to Twitter and Everything In Between |url=https://archive.org/details/socialnetworking0000kels |url-access=registration |year=2010 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=978-1-4302-2596-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Lacy |first=Sarah |title=The Stories of Facebook, YouTube and MySpace: The People, the Hype and the Deals Behind the Giants of Web 2.0 |year=2008 |publisher=Crimson |location=Richmond |isbn=978-1-85458-453-3}}
* Munger, Kevin; Hindman, Matt; Yalcin, Omer; Phillips, Joseph; Bisbee, James (2025). "Pressing Play on Politics: Quantitative Description of YouTube". ''Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media''. 5.
* {{cite news |last1=Spangler |first1=Todd |title=YouTube at 20: How the Video Colossus Launched the Creator Economy and Turned From Hollywood Foe to Friend |url=https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/youtube-20th-anniversary-sean-evans-hollywood-1236327520/ |access-date=17 March 2025 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=6 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307152715/https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/youtube-20th-anniversary-sean-evans-hollywood-1236327520/ |archive-date=March 7, 2025}}
* {{cite news |last=Walker |first=Rob |title=On YouTube, Amateur Is the New Pro |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/magazine/on-youtube-amateur-is-the-new-pro.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 28, 2012 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links}}
{{Scholia|topic}}
* {{Official website}}

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{{Video game live streaming services}}

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