Pop the confetti - YouTube is 20!
Today, we’re celebrating two decades of YouTube!
Twenty years as a platform for expression, learning, and entertainment for millions around the globe. From the 19-second clip that started it all, to now over 20 billion uploaded videos, including music, Shorts, podcasts, and more, we’ve grown so much in just two decades.
We see the same growth in MENA. In Saudi Arabia, the number of channels earning 7 figures or more in SAR increased by 40% year over year. Egypt also saw a 60% increase in channels reaching 7-figure annual revenues in EGP, while the UAE experienced a 15% growth in AED during the same time period.
To celebrate how far we’ve come, we've put together the ultimate YouTube MENA throwback, fuelled by you, our remarkable community of viewers, creators, artists & advertisers.
The ultimate MENA Throwback:
- Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah receives the YouTube Visionary Award (2007)
- YouTube launches Arabic language Interface (2010)
- YouTube Partner Program, allowing creators to make money from their content, launches MENA (2012)
4. The Harlem Shake reaches Egypt's Giza Pyramids (2013)
5. YouTube Batala hub released to spotlight the work of women content creators & YouTube mosalsalaat (series) with iconic MENA-drama (2016)
6. MENA YouTube creators host iftar livestream, breaking Guinness World Record. YouTube creators Anas & Asala's Burj Khalifa gender reveal (2020)
7. YouTube Kids launches across MENA (2021)
8. AboFlah's historic refugee fundraising live-stream (2022)
9. Three MENA brands make it to the top of YouTube Ads Cannes Leaderboard: Qatar Airways’ World Cup song, Orange Egypt’s World Cup Campaign and Telcom Egypt (WE)’s summer campaign
10. A video where Saudi gaming creator BanderitaX shares his battle with depression and calls for an end to stigma around mental health, is YouTube's top trending video in MENA (2024)
