The world’s biggest free, ad-supported streaming service saw ad revenue decline for a third straight quarter, with Alphabet reporting a 2.6% year-over-year ad sales drop for YouTube in Q1 to $6.69 billion.
YouTube still narrowly outperformed equity analysts’ forecasts of $6.6 billion. It reported a 7.8% year-over-year revenue drop in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 and a 1.9% decline in Q3.
Chief financial officer Ruth Porat told analysts there are “signs of stabilization” within YouTube’s global advertising business during Alphabet’s investor call Tuesday afternoon.
The first quarter saw an executive transition at YouTube, with Susan Wojcicki stepping down as CEO after nine years in February, and longtime product chief Neal Mohan stepping into the chief executive role.
In January, Google/Alphabet announced its biggest layoff ever, shedding 12% of its workforce, or 6,000 jobs, across divisions. The company reported that $2 billion was used on severance payments and other separation costs in Q1.
Overall, sales were still up 3% to $69.8 billion and net income came in at $15.05 billion.
