YouTube

video sharing · live · since 2005

People watch, upload, live-stream and comment on videos and Shorts, and subscribe to creators' channels.

how dependent?

  1. 07OperatorIEGoogle Ireland Limited
  2. OwnerUSAlphabet Inc.
  3. ProtocolUSYouTube LLC
  4. Shared services–None
  5. CodeUSGoogle LLC
  6. VerificationUSGoogleUSPrivate Identity LLCGBVerifymy Ltd
  7. 06ModelsUSGoogle
  8. 05DataUSGoogle Ireland Limited
  9. 04ServersUSGoogle
  10. EdgeUSGoogleITFastweb SpA
  11. 03–01Belowcompute, networks and resources are not recorded per app

Every layer above links to what it rests on. The figure counts the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the UK as European, as the landscape does.

How it is run

nine questions
ArchitectureWho holds your account and posts?

One company

open protocol: no

move your account and keep your followers: no

hub: Google (Alphabet)

A closed, centralised service run by Google; the only outside interface is YouTube's own Data API, provided by YouTube LLC. Uploads can be exported with Google Takeout, but no route exists to move a channel with its subscribers to another provider.

Business modelWho pays, and for what?

Targeted ads · subscriptions · a cut of sales

Alphabet reports YouTube ads at $40.4bn for 2025 and says YouTube's ads and subscriptions together exceeded $60bn, which puts subscriptions (Premium, Music, YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket) near $20bn; that figure is our subtraction, and TV and Sunday Ticket are US products. Ads are personalised on Google account activity. Commerce (channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, Shopping) is not reported separately; YouTube pays creators 70% of net fan-funding revenue and keeps the rest.

OrganisationWhat kind of organisation runs it?

Listed company

control: Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq); Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold about 52.7% of the votes

Class B shares carry ten votes and Class C none, so the two founders control the board and any sale of the company. The April 2026 proxy puts Page at 27.4% and Brin at 25.3% of the total voting power.

FeedWho decides what you see?

Ranked, with a non-profiled option

The signed-in homepage is personalised, mainly on watch history. YouTube's route out is to turn off and delete watch history, which empties the homepage rather than giving a non-personalised feed; subscribed channels stay reachable from the menu. The help pages do not present this as the DSA non-profiling option. EDRi filed a complaint with the Belgian regulator in March 2026 arguing the option is hard to find and to use.

ModerationWho moderates?

The operator

YouTube's staff and systems enforce the Community Guidelines on all videos, comments and posts, with strikes and removals. Channel owners can also hold, remove and filter comments on their own channel and appoint comment moderators, but only within their channel.

AI trainingDoes your content train AI?

Trains its own AI

a setting or form to opt out: no

Google told CNBC in June 2025 that it trains its AI models, including Gemini and Veo 3, on a subset of YouTube videos (press); YouTube's terms themselves only license content for operating and improving the Service. Google Ireland is the named controller for training Google AI models deployed in the EEA. No setting or form stops Google's own training; only the general GDPR right to object, which the privacy policy lists, is available. Creators can separately opt in to let listed outside AI companies train on their videos, off by default and with no payment through YouTube; that is the creator's choice, not a YouTube licence, so the answer is own rather than licensed.

IdentityMust you prove who you are?

No ID needed

verification: Google

Read off the verification layer, where its sources are.

Open sourceIs the code open?

Closed source

licence: proprietary

Read off the code layer, where its sources are.

SizeHow big is it?

462.3M a month in the EU

counted: average monthly active recipients in the EU, as the DSA requires them

period: Jan–Jun 2026

The DSA figure counts signed-in accounts, not people: Google does not de-duplicate them and says the count overstates unique users. It separately reports more than 500 million signed-out sessions a month, which should not be added.

What each layer rests on

checked 25 Sep 2026
07OperatorWho serves the app?

Google Ireland Limited · Ireland

Dublin, CRO 368047. It provides YouTube in the EEA and Switzerland, is the GDPR controller and the DSA provider. Designated a very large online platform on 25 April 2023; 462.3 million signed-in accounts a month in the EU, January to June 2026, a count Google says overstates unique users. The apps are published by Google LLC and the API by YouTube LLC, both US.

07OwnerWho owns the operator, where someone else does?

Alphabet Inc. · United States

The chain between Google Ireland and Alphabet runs through Irish and US holding companies, and the public records disagree on the exact path; all of it ends at Alphabet. Google bought YouTube in November 2006.

07ProtocolWho writes the rules of the network?

YouTube LLC · United States

protocol: proprietary

A centralised service. The only public interface is the YouTube Data API, provided by YouTube LLC, including under the EMEA version of the API terms.

07Shared servicesWhat does it lean on but not run?

None

07CodeWho builds the software?

Google LLC · United States

licence: proprietary

Closed source, with some open-source components. Google lists YouTube engineering roles in Paris and Warsaw, and more in Zurich (CH).

07VerificationWho checks users' identity, age or account?

Google · United States

also Private Identity LLC · United States: selfie age check, where offered

also Verifymy Ltd · United Kingdom: email-based age check, where offered

checks: age

ID needed to post: no

Not needed to watch or upload. Google runs machine-learning age estimation on accounts in the EEA, and accounts judged under 18 lose access to age-restricted videos; adults can prove their age with an ID, a credit card, or a selfie or email check where offered.

06ModelsWhose models moderate, rank or check?

Google · United States

Recommendations, moderation and age estimation are Google's own models, and Ask YouTube runs on Gemini. Google Ireland is the named controller for training Google AI models deployed in the EEA; that Google trains its models on YouTube videos is reported in press.

05DataWhere does the data sit?

Google Ireland Limited · United States

where: Servers worldwide, with no promise to keep YouTube data in the EU. Google has eight data centres operating in the EU, but does not say which hold YouTube or EU users' data.

transfers: To Google LLC in the US under the Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses; for creators' uploads, Google LLC is the named importer. Google's government-requests page says FISA orders can compel it to hand over stored data.

04ServersWho runs the servers?

Google · United States

region: Google's own data centres, eight operating in the EU (St. Ghislain BE, Eemshaven, Middenmeer and Winschoten NL, Hamina FI, Dublin IE, Fredericia DK, Hanau DE); which ones serve YouTube is not disclosed

04EdgeWho stands in front of them?

Google · United States

also Fastweb SpA · Italy: houses Google's cache servers inside its network; Google runs them and the content

Measured from Italy, the video came from a Google Global Cache server inside Fastweb's network. The edge can sit physically inside a European ISP while Google controls it.

  • Google Global Cache, how it worksread 25 Sep 2026
  • measured · www.youtube.com · AS15169 Google · 25 Sep 2026
  • measured · rr1---sn-8vq54voxpu-4agl.googlevideo.com · AS30722 Fastweb (Vodafone Italia) · 25 Sep 2026 · a video stream, from a Google cache inside the ISP

Checked 25 Sep 2026.