YouTube's Next Decade: Choosing Growth Levers Across Viewers, Creators and Revenue

Looking ten years ahead, how should YouTube keep growing? Describe the growth model you would choose for it and explain why. ```hint Split growth into factors Write YouTube's growth as a product of a few factors, such as viewers, time spent and money earned per hour watched, and ask which factor still has the most room after twenty years of growth. Do not forget the creators who supply the videos. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "growth" mean audience, watch time, revenue, or a combination, and which matters most to leadership? - Should the model cover only viewers, or creators and advertisers as well? - Are acquisitions or entirely new business lines in scope, or only growth from YouTube's existing products? - Should the plan assume YouTube keeps its current mix of advertising and subscriptions? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A breakdown of YouTube's growth into its main drivers, with a judgment about which ones still have room. - The creator, viewer and advertiser flywheel, and how each proposed bet strengthens it. - A small set of prioritized ten-year bets, sequenced over time, rather than a feature list. - A north-star metric with guardrails for viewer satisfaction, creator health and content safety. - Threats such as short-video rivals, AI-generated content and regulation, and how the model responds to them. ### Follow-up Questions - Shorts is growing fast but earns less per hour watched than long-form video. Do you push it harder or hold it back? - If generative AI lets anyone produce unlimited video, what happens to the creator side of your model? - If you could fund only two of your bets, which would you cut, and why?