A shift in demographics among viewers
As streaming continues to evolve, one platform is rising to the forefront. Based on Nielsen’s March 2025 findings, YouTube currently leads with the highest total TV usage share of any media entity at 11.6 percent. This indicates a 53 percent growth in viewership compared to two years prior. However, this is not merely a result of younger generations’ reputed “addiction” to mobile devices. The increase is predominantly fueled by older adults. In 2023, viewers aged sixty-five and older constituted only 7.89 percent of YouTube’s audience. Yet, by 2025, that figure had more than doubled to 15.4 percent, outpacing any other demographic. For Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, leveraging this older demographic for advertising revenue might be pivotal for further growth.
But what impact has this demographic truly made? One approach to uncover this is to examine YouTube’s ad revenues. As more individuals engage with videos, YouTube benefits from the advertisements surrounding these videos. My regression evaluation of Alphabet’s quarterly reports from 2023 to 2025, employing an interpolated linear trend between the February 2023 and February 2025 audience shares for adults sixty-five and above as reported by Nielsen, reveals a clear positive correlation between this demographic’s share of the total audience and YouTube’s advertising revenue. For every 1 percent rise in the proportion of YouTube’s overall viewership represented by adults sixty-five and older, the platform’s ad revenue has increased by approximately $0.33 billion. Although the correlation isn’t strong enough to assert that older adults are the exclusive drivers of revenue growth, the trend is evident: as their share of viewership grows, so too does YouTube’s earnings. While correlation does not imply causation, several factors contribute to YouTube’s increasing revenue, including the implementation of AI for targeting, new product sectors like YouTube shopping, TV and sports/media rights, a growing creator economy, subscriptions, and overall advertising. This indicates that if older adults occupy a larger portion of the audience, YouTube will inevitably aim to monetize this shift to maintain high revenues. This demographic is dominating the platform quicker than any other, and YouTube is poised to benefit from this trend. The pressing concern, however, is whether the platform’s efforts to capture this audience will replicate the harmful cycles previously observed with younger viewers’ mental health.
How YouTube entices and profits from older users
YouTube skillfully leverages the psychology of older users through three usability phases: reducing entry barriers, nurturing long-term engagement, and enhancing experiences through augmented interactions.
Older adults frequently cite usability and ease of interaction as significant factors when using digital platforms. YouTube is distinctive as its interface is user-friendly, necessitating minimal technical knowledge, and its brief videos lower the entry barrier irrespective of educational background or previous digital familiarity. Research indicates that the platform’s visually oriented design, clickable content tiles, and video-centric layouts simplify navigation, fostering familiarity quickly with repeated use.
Once older adults are engaged, YouTube typically fulfills their emotional and social needs. Vlogs and recognizable creators create a sense of community, tutorials and educational content enable learning at a comfortable pace, and nostalgia-driven suggestions encourage users to return. This engagement cycle is intensified by YouTube’s tailored algorithms, which progressively highlight more relevant content. Consequently, viewers not only enjoy longer viewing times but also find navigating the platform easier.