As of February 2017, there were more than 400 hours of content uploaded to YouTube each minute, and one billion hours of content being watched on YouTube every day. The vast majority of its videos are free to view, but there are exceptions, including subscription-based premium channels, film rentals, as well as YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, subscription services respectively offering premium and ad-free music streaming, and ad-free access to all content, including exclusive content commissioned from notable personalities.

YouTube and selected creators earn advertising revenue from Google AdSense, a program which targets ads according to site content and audience.

Videos that are age-restricted are available only to registered users affirming themselves to be at least 18 years old. Unregistered users can only watch (but not upload) videos on the site, while registered users are also permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos and add comments to videos. Most content on YouTube is uploaded by individuals, but media corporations including CBS, the BBC, Vevo, and Hulu offer some of their material via YouTube as part of the YouTube partnership program. Available content includes video clips, TV show clips, music videos, short and documentary films, audio recordings, movie trailers, live streams, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos. It offers a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media videos. YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to playlists, report, comment on videos, and subscribe to other users. Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries. Three former PayPal employees-Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim-created the service in February 2005. YouTube is an American online video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California.

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