Netflix generated $7.2 billion in revenue in Q1 2021, just narrowly beating YouTube’s ad sales.
The fact that YouTube nearly matches Netflix’s subscription revenue from more than 200 million subscribers is astonishing, especially considering that YouTube’s total does not include subscription revenues, which Alphabet doesn’t break out in its earnings report.
Moreover, due to its reliance on user-generated videos, YouTube’s content costs are way lower than Netflix’s, meaning that the platform is likely considerably more profitable than Netflix.