The Wednesday quarterly earnings call for Alphabet, the parent company of Google, created tough questions for the future of YouTube, which seems pulled in two very different directions at once. Most of the investor-facing discussion was all Gemini AI, all the time, but when the talk turned to Google’s big streaming service, I noticed several contradictions.

First, YouTube views are booming, especially when it comes to current events. Google reported that 1.7 billion users watched World Cup-related videos on YouTube this year, making it the most-viewed World Cup in YouTube’s history. The company also discussed a new campaign with Gen Z creators like Ellie Thumann and Hannah Meloche to create exclusive content on YouTube, aimed at growing interest in the streaming platform among younger, TikTok-inclined crowds.

However, the earnings call also discussed plans that could put YouTube at jeopardy. Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned the company is “bringing the power of conversational AI directly into the YouTube experience.” That includes asking Gemini “complex questions” about individual videos to get explanations and have Gemini find the exact moment in the video that viewers are interested in. In June, more than 140 million users tried out the early “Ask YouTube” version of this capability.

We’ve talked about this Gemini-and-YouTube combination before, after Google’s I/O event, and how disastrous it could be for YouTube performance. YouTube content creators depend on views and view length (including the ad breaks that longer views introduce) for a large portion of their income. If Gemini is rerouting all those views to tailored summaries and instant skips to certain spots, people have less reason to post videos on YouTube, no matter who Google partners with.

Likewise, the metrics that Google used in its earnings report could also take a hit, depending on how it defines a “view” or interaction with YouTube. The more Gemini replaces watching the video itself, the more recorded views could drop with these new features.

Overall, it seems to me that Google wants to have its cake and eat it, too. The company wants to continue boasting about YouTube growth and increase the number of views, while also advancing Gemini tools that would effectively demonetize YouTube for content creators and drastically decrease the amount of time people spend watching videos, which is bad news for advertisers, too.

I haven’t seen any sign of Google addressing this inconsistency, but the tech giant may need to get creative if it wants to keep encouraging YouTube viewers and creators.

Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tyler Lacoma

Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations.

With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends.

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