YouTube celebrates that it has just turned 20 years old and the numbers are frightening: more than 20 billion videos uploaded

On Wednesday, YouTube celebrated a significant milestone by reaching over 20 billion videos uploaded since its launch 20 years ago.

This video sharing platform has evolved since its conception in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim during a dinner, to become a fundamental pillar in modern daily life.

The first video, titled “Me at the Zoo,” was uploaded by Karim on April 23, 2005, and has accumulated 356 million views.

YouTube will surpass cable TV subscribers in the U.S. by 2025

Nowadays, approximately 20 million videos are uploaded daily, covering a variety of content, from concert clips and tutorials to political advertising and podcasts.

YouTube already has more than 2.5 billion viewers worldwide, and it is estimated that it will surpass all cable television services in the United States in paid subscribers within the next two years.

An eMarketer analyst, Ross Benes, points out that it would have been hard to imagine two decades ago that a site initially dedicated to parody videos would become a relevant competitor to giants like Disney, ABC, and CBS.

Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion was a pivotal moment that allowed the merging of Google’s search and advertising expertise with this innovative platform. This move laid the groundwork for a successful advertising model that shares revenue with content creators appealing to mass audiences.

With over one billion hours of content watched daily just on televisions, YouTube is strengthening its position in the market. The platform has announced that it will enhance the viewing experience on television this summer, although specific details about these improvements have not yet been provided.