YouTube is marking its 20th anniversary this year. And while the platform seems open and accessible, many of its key statistics remain shrouded in secrecy. A novel research approach is shedding light on figures that Google, YouTube’s parent company, prefers to keep under wraps.

The Elusive YouTube Numbers
At first glance, YouTube appears highly transparent, offering a boundless stream of content for global audiences. Scholars have extensively analysed its economic ecosystem and the impact of its recommendation algorithm. However, fundamental questions remain unanswered. For instance, just how much content is watched on YouTube every day?

Google has been notably discreet about this. In February, the company disclosed that YouTube viewership on smart TVs alone reached one billion hours daily. Yet, comprehensive data for the entire platform remains a mystery. Estimates suggest YouTube boasts around 2.5 billion active monthly users – nearly one-third of the world’s population. Average mobile users reportedly consume approximately 29 hours of content per month. Some basic calculations indicate that if this figure is applied to all YouTube users, humanity watches roughly 8.3 million years of content monthly – nearly 100 million years annually, vastly surpassing recorded human history.

Despite its two decades of operation, critical statistics remain undisclosed. The exact number of videos uploaded, the content categories, and even the languages most commonly spoken by creators are all unknown. Experts argue this lack of transparency is concerning, given YouTube’s profound influence on global information dissemination.

Peering Behind the Curtain
The lack of accessible data stems in part from YouTube’s structure. Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, notes that there is no straightforward way to obtain an unbiased sample of YouTube videos. While users can either browse manually or rely on algorithmic recommendations, neither method provides a truly random dataset.

To address this issue, Zuckerman and his team devised an innovative solution: an automated tool designed to randomly access YouTube videos. This program, often referred to as a scraper, generates billions of potential video URLs, searching for active content.

The technique resembles randomly dialling phone numbers to determine how many valid numbers exist within a given area code. Since YouTube video URLs follow a set pattern – beginning with “youtube.com/watch?v=” followed by an 11-character identifier – the scraper systematically generates combinations to locate active videos. However, the sheer scale of YouTube means that for every successful find, billions of incorrect guesses occur. In their initial study, Zuckerman’s team tested over 18 trillion URLs to collect just 10,016 videos.

The Scale of YouTube
One of the key revelations from this research was an estimate of YouTube’s total video count. Historically, Google disclosed some upload statistics, revealing that around 65,000 videos were added daily in 2006. More recent figures suggest over 500 hours of video content are uploaded per minute. However, Google no longer publishes cumulative video counts.

Zuckerman’s team estimated that in 2022, YouTube housed approximately nine billion videos. By mid-2024, this figure had surged to 14.8 billion, representing a 60% increase within just two years.

The Reality of YouTube Content
Public perception of YouTube often centres around high-profile influencers and professional creators, such as MrBeast or Joe Rogan. However, a closer analysis of the scraped dataset tells a different story. A vast majority of YouTube videos attract minimal engagement:

· The median number of views per video is just 41.
· Approximately 4% of videos have never been viewed even once.
· Around 74% of videos receive no comments.
· Nearly 89% have no likes.
· The median video length is only 64 seconds, with over a third running for less than 33 seconds.

Furthermore, only 0.21% of the analysed videos displayed monetisation elements such as sponsorships or advertisements. Merely 14% featured a designed set, and just 38% showed signs of editing. Audio quality was particularly poor, with 85% of videos exhibiting inconsistent sound.

YouTube’s Role in Society
Initially branded with the slogan “Broadcast Yourself,” YouTube positioned itself as a platform for personal expression. However, recent corporate messaging has shifted the narrative, portraying YouTube as a hub for professional creators. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s 2025 annual letter focused on the platform’s role in shaping modern entertainment, likening it to a new form of television.

Yet, researchers argue that this framing overlooks a crucial aspect of YouTube’s impact. Ryan McGrady, a senior researcher in Zuckerman’s lab, contends that YouTube functions more as a public infrastructure than a mere entertainment service. Beyond hosting influencer content, YouTube is a repository for countless essential resources – from educational materials to government proceedings and local authority meetings.

McGrady asserts that platforms of such magnitude should be subject to higher transparency standards. “For companies that own so much of our public discourse, there should be a minimum expectation for openness,” he says.

The Regulatory Challenge
While Google faces increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, YouTube has largely evaded the intense oversight imposed on other social media giants like Meta and X (formerly Twitter). Paul Barrett, deputy director of the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, notes that Google’s strategy of corporate silence has shielded it from much of the regulatory pressure faced by competitors.

Barrett stresses the importance of gaining insight into YouTube’s algorithm, which wields immense influence over global information flow. However, he also emphasises the need for more basic transparency. “Understanding the core facts about YouTube is the foundation for meaningful research and public discourse,” he argues. “The more information we have, the healthier the debate about social media’s role in society will be.”

As YouTube enters its third decade, the debate over its transparency, influence, and regulation is only just beginning.