YouTube missed expectations on ad revenue as growth slowed down

YouTube missed expectations on ad revenue as growth slowed down Content creator Julian Shapiro-Barnum spoke at the Made on YouTube event. Noam Galai/Getty Images for Made on YouTube 2026 YouTube's ad revenue growth slowed down, missing analysts' estimates in the third quarter.YouTube's parent company, Alphabet, reported $11.2 billion in third-quarter YouTube ads revenue, a 9% increase from a year ago. That falls below the $11.43 billion analyst consensus estimate. Its ads revenue growth also slowed from the previous quarter, when it pulled in about $11.1 billion, a 13% increase from the previous year.Beyond YouTube, Alphabet missed expectations in other areas of its business, including on overall revenue. In a bright spot, it beat revenue estimates for its cloud business.The company's shares were down over 10% in after-hours trading.While YouTube's ad revenue was weaker than expected, it wasn't all bad news. The company said it now has over 150 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers, up from 125 million in March 2025. The company said its subscriptions business was growing faster than ads.YouTube has also been the envy of rivals in key areas like TV viewership. Its share of US television viewership was about twice that of Netflix in August, according to recent Nielsen estimates.Netflix, meanwhile, walked back its full-year ad revenue expectations during last week's earnings. The streamer lowered its ad revenue forecast from $3 billion to $2.7 billion after experiencing delays around the rollout of its ad products. It laid off about 1,000 workers earlier this month.This week, Instagram unveiled an overhaul of long-form video features seemingly designed to counter YouTube and bolster its presence on TV screens."Everyone in streaming is chasing YouTube, and even Instagram is going to pivot their strategy based on the success that YouTube's had," said Ross Benes, a senior analyst at EMARKETER, Business Insider's sister company. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Dan is a correspondent at Business Insider covering TikTok, YouTube, and the business of social media.He writes about how creators earn a living from social apps, the inner workings of companies like TikTok, and the many ways that social media is impacting Hollywood and other industries like e-commerce, sports, music, and news.He previously wrote about marketing and entrepreneurship at Ad Age and Inc. Magazine. He was a McGraw Scholar in business journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and a graduate of Middlebury College. Disclosure: Dan previously worked at the ad tech company, The Trade Desk, where he was granted stock as part of his compensation. Google Netflix