YouTube Now Second Most Visited Website In The World

YouTube marked a milestone last Wednesday, celebrating over 20 billion videos uploaded since its debut 20 years ago.

Launched in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, reportedly inspired at a dinner party, YouTube’s domain went live on Valentine’s Day. Video uploads began April 23, with Karim’s 19-second “Me at the Zoo,” filmed at the San Diego Zoo’s elephant exhibit, now viewed 348 million times.

From its humble start, YouTube has grown into a cultural cornerstone, poised to surpass U.S. cable TV in paid viewership. Nielsen reports it was the top video source in the U.S. in March 2025, with 20 million videos uploaded daily.

Its YouTube TV service has become one of the top pay-TV operators in the U.S. with increasing numbers of podcasts and other programming being viewed on TV sets rather than mobile.

In the 20 years since the first video was uploaded to its platform, YouTube has become the second-most visited website in the world, with people collectively watching more than a billion hours of videos every day. CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent David Pogue looks at how creators are building online communities, and how artificial intelligence may fundamentally change YouTube's offerings.

Alphabet during its earnings call on Thursday said it supports more than 270 million paid subscriptions driven by the video site and cloud storage service Google One. YouTube Music and Premium supports more than 125 million subscribers, including trials, globally.