Ad investment with YouTube is set to rise 4.0% in 2023

Ad investment with YouTube is set to rise 4.0% in 2023 to reach US$30.4 billion, according to WARC Media’s latest “Platform Insights” report, which provides an overview of key datapoints about the platform, spanning investment, consumption and performance insights.

According to WARC Media, that figure marks a turnaround from the fourth quarter of 2022, when ad revenue declined 8.8% year-on-year, as marketers shifted investment to retail media and search. But growth is expected to resume in 2023, at more than double the rate of growth recorded in 2022. WARC Media forecasts YouTube’s revenue growth to accelerate 10.3% in 2024, to reach US$33.5 billion by the end of that year.

Meanwhile, the report mentioned that commerce brands are expected to spend US$4.1 billion on YouTube ads in 2023, which is a 4.6% rise in comparison with 2022. Retail remains YouTube’s most important category for ad investment, but growth from other sectors has been harder to achieve. While some categories will see double digit spending increases in 2023, including technology & electronics (+13.9%) and toiletries & cosmetics (+12.1%), figures elsewhere are more modest.

Furthermore, the study assures that YouTube advertisers can reach half of all internet users globally, and that more than one billion hours of video are watched every day on YouTube. With such huge numbers, YouTube is the world’s most popular online platform, with an adult advertising reach estimated at 2.07 billion people, almost twice as much as TikTok and Instagram. Moreover, YouTube Shorts (60 seconds or less) will provide more opportunities for marketers to reach new audiences, but its 50 billion daily viewer total is some way behind the 140 billion daily views achieved by Instagram Reels. Under-18, meanwhile, spend on average 60% longer on TikTok than with YouTube content.

At the same time, YouTube has overtaken Netflix as the biggest TV streaming platform in the United States, as it accounted for 22.9% of OTT viewing in March 2023. It is also the most popular channel for US Gen Zs to catch up with sports news, and last year it was the most popular platform for both music and podcast listening in the United States.