YouTube, Google Cloud to bring in $100 billion this year: Sundar Pichai

Alphabet reported revenue of $80.5 billion for the 2024 January- March quarter, up 15 per cent from last year, with operating income surging by 46.3 per cent and net income by 57 per cent

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on April 25 that both YouTube and Google's cloud business are expected to make over $100 billion altogether by the end of 2024, showing new areas of profit for the company. 

"This shows our track record of investing in and building successful, new, growing businesses," Pichai said during the company's earnings call, highlighting their success in investing in and developing new and growing businesses.

Google's parent company Alphabet reported revenue of $80.5 billion for the 2024 January- March quarter on Thursday, up 15 per cent from last year, with operating income increasing by 46.3 per cent and net income by 57 per cent.

The company generated sales, excluding partner payouts, of $67.6 billion for the three months that ended on March 31, surpassing the $66.1 billion expected on average by analysts, as per Bloomberg. The company's net income was $1.89 per share, compared with Wall Street's estimate of $1.53 per share.

Alphabet also declared its first-ever dividend at 20 cents per share and confirmed plans to repurchase another $70 billion in stock.

In the first quarter of this year, YouTube earned $8.1 billion from ad sales, its highest ever for Q1, up 21 per cent from the same period last year. And this number doesn't include the money brought in from its annual subscriptions. 

Meanwhile, Google's revenue from its subscriptions, platforms, and devices, including services like YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, reached $8.7 billion in the quarter, a 17.9 per cent increase from last year.

Philipp Schindler, Alphabet's chief business officer, attributed this revenue growth to the rising number of YouTube subscriptions. While Google doesn't disclose specific figures for this segment, Pichai mentioned in January that the subscription business earned $15 billion in 2023.

YouTube announced it had surpassed 100 million paid subscribers for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music in January 2024, up from 80 million in November 2022. YouTube TV has over eight million paid subscribers in the United States.

Additionally, Google One, the company's cloud storage service, reached 100 million subscribers in February.

In February, the search engine giant consolidated numerous advanced generative AI features into a fresh subscription plan known as the Google One AI Premium Plan.

This plan is accessible in India for a monthly fee of Rs 1,950, granting subscribers entry to an upgraded iteration of its chatbot Gemini, dubbed Gemini Advanced. Gemini Advanced is tailored for handling intricate tasks and operates on the AI model Gemini Ultra 1.0.

Subscribers will additionally gain access to Gemini's functionalities within Alphabet's suite of productivity applications, including Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Meet.

Google has been pushing its subscription growth with various initiatives. In October 2023, YouTube launched a global effort against ad blockers, extending it to third-party apps later. Google Photos ended its free unlimited storage in June 2021. In February, Google introduced advanced generative AI features under a new Google One AI Premium Plan, available in India.

The cloud unit's revenue surged by 28.4 per cent to $9.6 billion, with operating income rising to $900 million in Q1 2024.

Pichai credited the strong performance of YouTube, Google Cloud, and the search business for the company's overall revenue growth in the quarter.