Net giant’s ad revenue growth slowest in 2+ years

LONDON, Wednesday: YouTube ad income increased by 4.8% YoY to US$ 7.34 billion, far less than Wall St predictions that of a 7% increase to US$ 7.49 billion, according to according to stock-trading app StockApps.com*.

YouTube ‘s ad revenue increased by 84% to $ US7b in Q2 2021. “But,” reports the site, “this figure was somewhat inflated due to Covid-19’s early effects on sales in the first half of 2020.

Canadian content strategist Edith Reads said: “The growth is at its lowest since 2020. However, it was closer to predictions than Q1 when YouTube missed estimates by over $ US$ 600 million.”

Alphabet slightly missed estimates
Overall, Alphabet slightly missed earnings estimates. The internet behemoth reported $ 69.69 billion in sales, up 13%, and $ 16.0 billion in net income. Wall St consensus projections were for $ 69.99 billion in revenue and $ 1.30/share in earnings.

Besides macroeconomic obstacles like growing inflation, analysts predict that YouTube ad dollars are shrinking due to YouTube Shorts, the platform’s surging TikTok-like short-video feature. Google boasted last month that YouTube Shorts has 1.5 billion monthly logged-in visitors.

Yet, it only began testing ads for short clips recently.

Alphabet’s YouTube ad sales estimates do not include YouTube TV and YouTube Premium subscriptions. 

YouTube TV boasts 5 million members and free trial users, making it the leading internet pay-TV provider in the US.

• More here