YouTube reveals exactly how much money it's paid to creators in the last four years

It's been no secret for a while now that uploading videos to YouTube and being a social media creator as a whole can lead to a lucrative career, but you might still be left stunned by the sheer amount of money that the video sharing platform has paid its users over the last four years alone.

You only need to look at someone like MrBeast to see quite how much money you can earn from being a YouTuber, and while Jimmy Donaldson is unrepresentative of almost every other creator, it shows that there's cash to be made.

While ad revenue in general has been reduced significantly since the 'golden days' of YouTube across the 2010s where most creators relied entirely on money generated from views alone, it's still a significant income stream for creators across the board.

Certain social media stars have previously given people a look behind the curtain and revealed exactly how much money their videos have made, and it's especially intruiging to see the difference when looking specifically at Shorts — YouTube's TikTok-esque short-form vertical video format.

However, it doesn't take a genius to be impressed by the immense amount of money YouTube has handed over since 2021, and it might even convince you to try your hand at creating videos in order to get a slice of the very large pie.

YouTube has paid out over $100 billion to its creators over the last four years (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As reported by CNBC, YouTube revealed on Tuesday that it has paid out over $100,000,000,000 to creators, artists, and media companies in the last four years, which still looks like a handsome figure when taking into account the roughly 69 million creators that it could be split between according to data from DemandSage.

Of course, not every single account that YouTube pays out is an individual making videos in their bedroom, as it includes the mega corporations you might watch regularly on the platform alongside channels from your favorite singers and bands who make a lot from their music videos.

What is fascinating, however, is how much this figure has increased over the last few years as a result of one particular viewing habit, as YouTube has identified people watching on their TVs as a key driver of revenue.

According to data collected by the video sharing platform, the number of people channels that have earned over $100,000 in ad revenue exclusively from TV watching sources has increased 45% year-on-year, which is perhaps a notable trend when it comes to how people are watching videos and the type of content they are enjoying.

People watching YouTube on their TV appears to be a significant driver of income (Getty Stock)

TVs, unlike computers or even some phones, have no means of preventing adverts from being shown through an ad blocker outside of paying for YouTube Premium, and you'd imagine that many would rather sit down and watch a longer video – which will incur higher revenue – on their sofa.

Additionally, YouTube has announced a new collection of artificial intelligence powered tools for Shorts, including the ability to use Google's generative video software Veo 3 in the near future.