YouTube still ‘roughly break-even’ for Google

YouTube generated revenues of roughly US$4 billion (€3.5 billion) last year, but still did not contribute towards parent company Google’s earnings, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Citing two people familiar with Google’s financials, the WSJ reported that year-on-year YouTube’s revenues climbed by US$1 billion in 2014, but after covering its costs it is “roughly break even.”

Google does not break down YouTube’s earnings when detailing its financials, but in its fourth quarter earnings announcement Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer and special advisor to the CEO, said YouTube now has more than one billion users.

Every day people watch “hundreds of millions of hours of video” on YouTube, generating “billions of views,” said Kordestani. “Watch time is up 50% year-over-year. We continue to invest in our YouTube Partners and Partner revenue has increased by more than 50% year-over-year.”