YouTube's Market Share more than Doubled Year-over-Year to 9.5%, the Biggest Increase Among the Social Media Giants

Despite the mounting competition from TikTok and Instagram, YouTube remains the king of the digital video space. The video-sharing giant hit over 2.5 billion global viewers this year, shortening the gap between the social media king Facebook, while its business pillars, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, reached 100 million paying users. On top of that, YouTube’s market share increased significantly in the past year, outperforming all other largest players in the market.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, YouTube’s market share more than doubled year-over-year and hit 9.5% in July.

YouTube Increased its Market Share by Nearly 6% Year-over-Year, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Saw a Decline

As the world’s second-largest social media platform and the second-most visited website behind Google, YouTube has always been one of the biggest players in the social media landscape, outperforming even the much bigger Facebook in usage time and ad reach.   

According to the Digital 2024 April Global Statshot Report, YouTube boasts the highest potential ad reach of 2.5 billion people, 500 million more Facebook, and roughly one billion more than Instagram or TikTok. Also, its users spent an average of 27 hours and 43 minutes watching video content on the platform, 20 minutes more than last year, and the second-highest usage time behind the leading TikTok.

Although the competition in the digital video environment has risen, with short-form video platforms TikTok and Instagram gaining more and more ground, YouTube has seen its market share climb to all-time highs. According to Statcounter data, YouTube’s market share has more than doubled in the past year, surpassing all other major players in the social media landscape. As of last week, the video-sharing platform’s market share stood at 9.5%, a significant increase of almost 6% from the same month last year, underscoring its growing influence in the market.

On the other hand, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok all saw their market share decline. As of July, Facebook holds 62.1% of the social media market, or 3.5% less than in the same month last year. Instagram saw a similar decline, with its market share falling from 14.3% to 11.8% year-over-year. Statistics show Twitter’s market share now stands at 7.05%, down from 8.85% a year ago.

Top Three Social Media Platforms Now Hold 83% of the Market

The Statcounter data also revealed that Reddit and Pinterest are the only social media platforms besides YouTube whose market shares have increased in the past year. Pinterest now holds 6.6% of the market, up from 6% in July last year. Reddit saw a much bigger increase from 0.58% to 2.12% year-over-year.

However, the social media landscape is still dominated by only a few major platforms, each with a significant market share based on user numbers and engagement. According to Statcounter data, the top three social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, hold more than 83% of the social media market as of July. Also, the three platforms together count more than 7.2 billion users, representing 87% of the world’s population.