Google owned YouTube celebrates milestone with one billion monthly users
Video sharing, on another level
YouTube made the announcement via their blog where they acknowledged that the recent boom in smartphones had massively contributed to the boost in the numbers visiting the site every month.
Figures that any internet marketing agency would give their last Rolo for!
According to YouTube’s statistics traffic from mobile devices has tripled since 2011 with over a huge one billion videos viewed from smartphones. It’s undeniable that YouTube’s popularity has and continues to provide Google with a lucrative avenue through which to sell advertising, alongside Google’s core search business.
The launch pad and beyond
YouTube was launched in 2005 and had an estimated 30-40 million users world wide, the following year in 2006 the site was bought by Google in 2006 for £1.16bn. No one could have predicted that seven years it would rack up one billion regular monthly users, and now poses a threat to Facebook as YouTube could challenge Facebook for the crown of the internet’s largest social network. Facebook reached a billion users in October last year.
The largest audience in the world
“Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube”
YouTube offered this statistic in a statement and was keen to stress the obvious business potential of such a large audience on the world’s biggest stage.
“Tens of thousands of partners have created channels that have found and built businesses for passionate, engaged audiences. Advertisers have taken notice”
To prove so, the top 100 brands listed by trade magazine ‘Advertising Age’ are currently running campaigns on YouTube. Closer to home, the BBC also has a presence on YouTube, with a number of different channels. Some are run by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the corporation.
What’s next for YouTube?
YouTube was launched in California by three former PayPal employees and here is the first ever video uploaded – ‘Me at the Zoo’ by YouTube co-founder, Jawed Karim.
With a lethally competitive concoction of one billion regular monthly viewers which would make YouTube the third largest country in the world after China and India not to mention an advertising revenue from the world’s 100 top Ad agencies and brands, there’s no stopping the powerball of YouTube!
