YouTube was founded in February 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. The first video, "Me at the zoo", was uploaded on 23 April 2005. Google announced it would buy YouTube for 1.65 billion US dollars in October 2006, and the Partner Program that pays creators began in 2007.
The timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 14 February 2005 | The youtube.com domain is registered |
| 23 April 2005 | Jawed Karim uploads the first video, "Me at the zoo" |
| December 2005 | The site leaves beta and opens to the public |
| October 2006 | Google announces it will buy YouTube for US$1.65 billion in stock |
| 2007 | The Partner Program starts sharing advertising revenue with creators |
| 2015 | A paid subscription launches as YouTube Red, later renamed YouTube Premium |
| September 2020 | Shorts begins as a beta in India |
| 2021 | Shorts rolls out in the United States and then worldwide |
| February 2023 | Shorts ad revenue sharing begins; Neal Mohan succeeds Susan Wojcicki as chief executive |
Who created it
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who had worked together at PayPal. The first video is eighteen seconds long and shows Karim at the San Diego Zoo. It is still on the site.
Who owns it now
Google, which is part of Alphabet. YouTube has been a Google company since the purchase was completed in November 2006, a little over a year and a half after the first upload.
Three changes that shaped how channels grow
Paying creators (2007). The Partner Program made a channel a possible source of income. Its entry thresholds have changed several times; the current ones are in YouTube monetization requirements.
Watch time over clicks (2012). YouTube changed its recommendations to favour how long people watch rather than how many click. Titles that promised more than the video delivered stopped working. See watch time explained.
Shorts (2020 onwards). Vertical videos in a swipeable feed gave new channels a way to be found without an existing audience. Shorts and long videos now do different jobs; see Shorts vs long videos.
Why it matters to a channel today
YouTube has rewarded the same thing since 2012: videos that people choose and then keep watching. Formats and thresholds change, and that principle has not. A channel built on it survives the next change.
Frequently asked questions
When was YouTube created?
The company was founded in February 2005. The first video was uploaded on 23 April 2005 and the site opened to the public that December.
What was the first YouTube video?
"Me at the zoo", an eighteen-second clip uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim on 23 April 2005.
When did Google buy YouTube?
Google announced the purchase in October 2006 for 1.65 billion US dollars in stock and completed it the following month.
