YouTube, the video-streaming giant, is the world’s top-grossing app in the photo and video software category for two consecutive quarters.
Here, the platform that Google owns generated $138 million in user spending, according to data from app market monitor SensorTower.
According to the report, about 70 percent of YouTube’s revenue came from users in the U.S., followed by 7 percent from Japan and 4 percent from the UK.
This achievement represents a 220-percent growth in revenue year-over-year, the report explained.
Coming at second place, is the Tencent-backed photo editing tool Kwai, with about $78 million in gross revenue, which represented 57 percent year-over-year growth from Q2 2018. The majority of Kwai’s revenue came from China, at 99 percent.
Third place, is Chinese video sharing TikTok, followed by fourth place with 17 LiveAF and fifth place with PicsArt.
According to SensorTower's Top Grossing Photo & Video Apps Worldwide for Q2 2019 report:
Despite YouTube's growth revenue, YouTube content creators weren't that particularly happy with the platform, especially when it comes to its monetization policy.
With pressure from the advertising giants that spend tons of money on the platform, YouTube is urged to tweak its monetization guidelines.
And with backlash from YouTube in frequently failing to police its platforms from misinformation, fake news and other bad contents, YouTube was also forced to tweak its algorithms.
As a result, many YouTube creators weren't happy.
For example, the 'FairTube' campaign demanded YouTube to provide more transparency about its monetization and its way of calculating views.
Participants of the campaign also demanded YouTube to provide creators more granular data about which parts of their videos violate the platform's policies, as well as having human contacts they can talk to.
In one way or another, YouTube isn't anymore as influential as it previously was.
Especially when other platforms are having video-streaming capabilities, with Tik Tok as the most notable for having the quick traction in the market with its karaoke-style video approach.
But still, YouTube’s annual revenue is estimated to be between $16 billion and $25 billion.
With its revenue accounting to almost twice of its runner up, SensorTower's report shows that YouTube is still sitting comfortably on its throne, and still growing and appealing an increasing number of users.
