YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing and social media website based in the United States that is owned by Google. Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Chad Hurley founded the company in February 2005. More than one billion monthly visitors view more than one billion hours of video on the site each day, making it the second most visited website in the world, behind only Google. Uploaded videos were averaging more than 500 hours of material every minute in May 2019, according to data from YouTube.

YouTube was purchased by Google in October 2006 for $1.65 billion dollars. It has also altered its economic strategy as a result of Google's ownership of YouTube, which no longer earns income only from advertising. Paying subscribers may now access premium material such as movies and exclusive content on YouTube. In addition, YouTube and authorised producers engage in Google's AdSense programme, which results in increased income for both parties. Since then, it has grown from a tiny video streaming platform to a big business with projected sales of $19.8 billion in 2020, according to reports.

In the years after its acquisition by Google, YouTube has grown beyond the internet to include mobile applications and network television, as well as the potential to integrate with other businesses. Music videos, video clips, news, short films, feature films, documentaries, audio recordings, movie trailers, teasers, live streams, vlogs, and other types of videos may be found on YouTube in a variety of genres. Individuals are responsible for the majority of the material. Collaborations between YouTubers and corporate sponsors are included in this category. In order to reach a bigger audience with their advertising, major media companies like as Disney, ViacomCBS, and WarnerMedia have launched and grown their corporate YouTube accounts since about 2015.

In addition to having a significant social effect, YouTube has also had a significant influence on popular culture and internet trends, as well as producing multimillionaire superstars. In addition to spreading disinformation, it has been accused of breaching user privacy, promoting censorship, and jeopardising the safety and well-being of children and young people.