How Did Youtube Ads Perform in Q3?

The third quarter of 2021 saw consumers braving the world and shopping again. While many people expected this to have a negative impact on online revenue, did that happen? After all, the fading pandemic will mean fewer people isolated at home and viewing online ads. The pandemic saw a massive increase in online spending, as you might expect, a similar, inverse effect took place at brick and mortar shops. After a Q3 earnings report, it was clear that the pandemic environment hasn’t hurt Google. At least, not in the way other businesses have experienced. As for how YouTube Ads fared?

Google’s recent investments in e-commerce and advertising are paying off… Even as the world opens up again. But just how well did they do?

Alphabet Earnings

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, saw a 41% year-over-year growth at a total of $65.1 billion. This increase is enormous, and 78% of that growth is owed to ad revenue. So $51.3 billion from ad revenue is significant. In addition, before Q3 2021, Google committed to making a big push for commerce. Google has also added options for advertisers that want to leverage in-person shopping. This will be especially vital moving forward after and around the Christmas season. Where did some of this revenue come from, though?

YouTube’s Performance Shines

Chief business officer Philipp Schindler told investors that advertising isn’t going anywhere. “Year-on-year performance was driven by broad-based strength in advertiser spend.” YouTube’s connected TV (CTV) advertisements expanded, and Shorts brought in even more revenue. Shorts is a competitive service that rivals short-form content like TikTok and Snapchat. Google’s bottom line was particularly well serviced by CTV. This service soon became Google’s fastest-growing platform. Brands like Dominos continue to swarm to YouTube.

This is despite threats that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency presented. Schindler went on to say that they focus on supporting developers, advertisers, and others. This helps businesses and content creators mitigate the damage done by Apple’s privacy policies. He added, “[We] really see the future of digital advertising build on advances and privacy-preserving on device technologies, which support the free and open internet, and, obviously, a robust ad ecosystem.”

Google Endures its Troubles

Controversy recently arose about Google as lawsuits and unsealed documents surfaced. The details of those cases haven’t seemed to slow down the company. There were allegations recently that Google had been throttling non-AMP pages. The allegations claimed that despite claiming AMP would “dramatically improve” mobile web performance, it had ulterior motives. Though the allegation claimed that AMP was a scheme to coerce publishers into not using other services, Google seems unfazed. This is even despite allegations of collusion with Facebook to fight header bidding.

The Takeaway on YouTube Ads

Google left Q3 very strong. While shoppers are returning to in-person shopping, online revenue continues to grow. This is especially true in advertising, which saw massive increases in profits. Growth in local shopping searches offers companies new chances to reach their customers and drive sales. Advertisers can expect to see this trend carry on as people continue to head outside again. As Google’s earning trends indicate, the shift to local search marketing will be an important shift to adapt to.