I started adding ads to my YouTube videos exactly 4 years ago.  During that time, my videos have received 301,400 views (just over 200 views a day).  My channel has $675.37 during that time or about $2.20 for every 1,000 times my videos are viewed.  

There are many producers on YouTube getting this many views every few hours.  Those "YouTubers" also can generate revenue from produce placement and other forms of sponsorship.  A popular channel can generate a ton of revenue.

My YouTube revenue is not much, but it is enough to cover my web hosting, and is a LOT more than I'm getting paid by any other social media platforms, who want you to pay THEM for the privilege of contributing content 

 

 

I just recently started and I'm at $4.29. Which isn't bad to start considering my content is really not as entertaining as books or music. I've been primarily attempting to be a grassroots source for aspiring entrepreneurs. The funny thing is the best performing video I have is a video about a fake shoe a customer attempted to return to my shop. If I were to stick with commentary on fake shoes or shoes in general I could easily grow faster, but that's not the goal. YouTube is by far and away the best social media platform available. The others offer no real support financially and offer no potential for monetizing content. Just think... one video catches fire and you're making 600 a year on that one video or even 600 a month. It can all change in a hearbeat which is why I continue to place content on the platform although engagement is better for Facebook video and Snapchat. Engagement doesn't mean conversion though. 

Yes, and the real benefit of YouTube is the service they provide for videos including embedding.  In the early days hosting your own videos was expensive, and YouTube made it possible to share videos on your website and with others.  Today hosting videos is cheap, but youtube gets you videos seen by more people that hosting them on your site alone.  

YouTube adds value to the WWW, where most other social media platforms attempt to horde and extract value from the WWW.