Recently, Alphabet (GOOGL  ) (GOOG  ) released a report of the ad revenue for YouTube for the first time since Google acquired the video platform in 2006. In Alphabet's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2019 results, YouTube's ad revenue was $15 billion for 2019, which accounted for about 10% of Google's overall revenue.

Putting those numbers in more comprehensible figures, a study by App Annie concluded that among the top 5 streaming apps in 2019, 7 out of every 10 minutes was spent on YouTube worldwide. It's important to note, App Annie's survey only looked at the streaming time spent by Android phones, who making up 75% of users worldwide. There is no data for iOS (NASDAQ AAPL) screen time spent on various streaming apps in this study.

YouTube's performance as top streaming app was not only impressive, but the number also included Chinese users in the study even though Google is banned in that market and the other top four apps--Tencent News (TCTZF  ) (TCEHY  ), Tencent Video, iQIYI (IQ  ), and Xigua Video--are predominately streamed by Chinese users exclusively.

"With YouTube dominating 70% of time spent in the top five streaming apps, the platform proves that it is still holding its weight among the acceleration of new video streaming platforms--particularly as it was an early pioneer in the market," App Annie mobile analyst Lexi Sydow noted in the report.

One thing this study showed was just how far ahead this app is when compared to other streaming giants like long-form content producers Netflix (NFLX  ), HBO GO and HBO MAX (T  ), and Disney+ (DIS  ) as well as other short-form, free to access content platforms like TikTok, Facebook Video and Instagram's IGTV (FB  ) when it comes to the battle for attention. Netflix was the only other major U.S. streaming app to make the top ten list of the survey.

YouTube vs Netflix

YouTube as a platform has been founded on user-generated content that is free to access for both creators and users. By rough estimates, about 500 hours of content is uploaded onto the platform every minute from users around the world, streaming to a global audience. Users use the platform more like a social media apps than streaming apps as well, with viewers following certain niche content selected by them individually.

Netflix, and others like it, runs on a subscription only platform, thus creating a barrier to access for many potential users. Netflix also only offers content curated by the platform itself, limiting its entertainment value for a broader audience. This means that if users do not like the content provided by the platform, they are more likely to look to alternatives and cancel their subscription.

According to a separate study from MIT, time spent on YouTube and frequent visits to the site greatly outweighed time spent on other popular streaming mobile apps, with Netflix being the most notable. Also, in another report from a networking equipment firm Sandvine, YouTube makes up 37% of all downstream mobile internet traffic in the world.

The Fight for Attention

Back in July, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings stated, "YouTube is seven times larger than us, roughly, in viewing hours, and is a phenomenal service. Of course, it's free. So the real question is, can we produce enough content that people are willing to pay for?"

YouTube offers users a platform that other media content providers cannot: free to access content that includes a range of entertainment from music to video gamings to scripted entertainment to personal video blogs; subscription-based platforms just cannot produce the same level of free content.