YouTube says creator economy added $55 billion to US GDP, Q2 ad revenue hits $11 billion

YouTube’s 2025 Impact Report states its creator ecosystem contributed more than $55 billion to the United States gross domestic product, up from $45 billion the year before, and supported over 540,000 full‑time‑equivalent jobs, an increase from 490,000 in 2024. The report notes that YouTube has paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies between 2022 and 2025, with 55 % of advertising and subscription revenue from the YouTube Partner Program flowing directly to them.

In the second quarter of 2026, YouTube generated $11.06 billion in advertising revenue, a 12.6 % year‑over‑year increase that beat analyst forecasts of $10.8 billion. The growth was driven in part by major world events such as the FIFA World Cup, which attracted 1.7 billion unique viewers. Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, posted quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion, up 24 %, and net income of $112.1 billion, reflecting the contribution of the platform’s ad sales and strong performance from Google Cloud.