YouTube’s advertising business continued to grow in the second quarter of 2026. The video platform generated $11.06 billion in ad revenue, a 12.6% increase from a year earlier, indicating strong advertiser demand and steady audience growth.

The result beat Wall Street expectations of $10.8 billion in ad revenue, according to StreetAccount. The figure does not include YouTube’s subscription earnings, which add billions of dollars to the platform’s annual revenue.

World Cup Drives Viewership

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said major global events helped attract viewers to the platform.

“Month over month, people turn to YouTube for major world events, with over 1.7 billion unique viewers watching World Cup-related videos during the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Pichai said.

The strong audience engagement helped make YouTube more attractive to advertisers during the quarter.

AI Features Gain Traction

Alphabet also highlighted growing use of Ask YouTube, an AI-powered feature that helps users find information within videos.

The tool uses Google’s Gemini models to answer questions, provide summaries and direct users to specific parts of a video.

According to Pichai, more than 140 million users interacted with Ask YouTube on the Watch page in June 2026.

Strong Quarter for Alphabet

YouTube’s performance contributed to strong results for parent company Alphabet.

The company reported revenue of $119.8 billion in the second quarter, up 24% from the same period last year. Net income rose to $112.1 billion.

Google Cloud was another major growth driver. Revenue in the division increased 82% to $24.77 billion.

Pichai said the growth was “driven by demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.”

Alphabet also increased spending on artificial intelligence. Capital expenditures doubled to $44.9 billion as the company expanded its AI infrastructure and computing capacity.