YouTube now has over 150 million paid subscribers
What's the story
YouTube has crossed the 150 million subscriber mark for its Music and Premium services, as per Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. The number, which includes trials, is a jump from the 125 million subscribers reported in March 2025. Despite a slowdown in ad revenue growth during the September quarter, YouTube's subscription business has outpaced advertising growth for three consecutive quarters.
Revenue report
YouTube's ad revenue grew by 9.2% in September quarter
YouTube's advertising revenue grew by 9.2% year-on-year to $11.2 billion in the September quarter, the slowest growth rate this year.
This is a decline from last quarter's 13% and Q1's 11%.
Despite this slowdown, living room viewing accounted for over one-third of total YouTube ad revenues in Q3, Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler said during the company's earnings call on October 28.
Revenue breakdown
Alphabet's broader subscriptions, platforms, and devices segment
While Alphabet doesn't break down YouTube's subscription revenue separately, it is included in the company's broader subscriptions, platforms, and devices segment.
This segment reported a revenue of $14.3 billion in the September quarter, an 11% increase from $12.9 billion a year ago.
It also includes revenues from Google Play, Pixel devices, and Google One subscriptions.
Financial growth
YouTube total revenue exceeded $60 billion in 2025
Earlier this year, Pichai had revealed that YouTube's total revenue exceeded $60 billion in 2025. This highlights the video platform's growing significance to Google's overall business.
In recent years, YouTube has been stepping up efforts to grow its paid subscription business with new plans and lower-priced options such as Premium Lite to attract more paying users.
New initiatives
YouTube expands shopping affiliate program with over 1.3 million channels
YouTube is also ramping up its shopping affiliate program, YouTube Shopping, with over 1.3 million channels enrolled globally.
The program lets creators earn commissions on sales generated by tagging products directly in long-form videos, Shorts, and livestreams.
In India, the platform recently added Amazon, Meesho, AJIO, Tata CLiQ, and Snapdeal as merchant partners to its existing list of Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, Purplle, and Tira, among others.