[New Study] YouTube Obliterates Facebook, Instagram & Netflix

YouTube is leaving Facebook, Instagram and the rest of the web in its wake, single-handily responsible for 37% of all mobile web traffic, according to a recent report.

YouTube gobbles the largest chunk of all downstream mobile internet traffic worldwide, as per a report from Sandvine (a networking equipment firm) – Mobile Internet Phenomena report.

Google’s video giant is far ahead of Facebook (including Instagram) and Snapchat, which are in second and third place with 14.1% and 8.3%, respectively.

YouTube’s lead comes curtesy of the fact that streaming video comprises more megabytes of usage than the standard browsing that proliferates on Facebook. The stats noted are related to users who are browsing on cellular data as opposed to on WiFi connections.

YouTube and Chill?

That may go some reason to explaining why Netflix only makes up just 2.4% of all cellular data globally. Despite the fact Netflix is responsible for 15% of the world’s web data more broadly.

While catching Narcos on your mobile, on the morning train commute is OK, it’s perhaps not quite as popular as doing it from your lounge, via wifi, eating nachos.

Again, when YouTube is viewed more widely, with the lens of total internet data consumption, YouTube still eats up 11.4% of total web data. Miles ahead of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc.

Even Facebook Admits YouTube Rules Video Roost

These are important metrics for marketing communicators to appreciate since most are under the misconception that Facebook is the online video be all and end all.

It quite clearly is not. YouTube is.

A point acknowledged by Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in an earnings call before Christmas:

‘We're seeing video grow dramatically across the ecosystem. And while Watch (Edit: Facebook’s new video service) is now growing very quickly, we're well behind YouTube and still working to make this a unique people-centric experience.

At this point, Watch has really hit its stride and it's growing incredibly quickly, about 3x in the last few months in the U.S. alone. IGTV is still earlier in its development, but I think we have a good sense of how to make it work as well.

To be clear, these services are still well behind YouTube, which is our primary competitor in this space, but they're growing very quickly.’

According to Apple, YouTube was the most downloaded app of 2018.

YouTube also happens to alternate between being the second, or third, most trafficked digital property in Australia and New Zealand. Sitting behind Google generally and shifting spots with Facebook on a regular-ish basis, for second place.

And yes, that is Pornhub in those top tens, at 6 and 7 respectively. [Insert your own jokes, we are on deadline].   

Therefore, for businesses looking to grow big with online video in 2019, it may be time to dust off that old YouTube channel you set up in 2008.

Check out Sandvine’s report here.