April 17, 2025
Welcome to The L@B Report
Welcome to this month’s issue of The L@B Report from GSG, bringing you news and insights from the intersection of digital media and public affairs. In this issue, we discuss YouTube’s march toward becoming the largest media company in the world, the decline of search, and the latest on TikTok.
This issue of The L@B Report was put together by Ryan Alexander.
In the News
YouTube May Soon Pass Disney as the Biggest Media Company in the World
Not bad for a company that launched a mere 20 years ago
According to Business Insider, YouTube is on track to eclipse Disney as the biggest media company in the world. Measured by revenue, YouTube brought in $54.2 billion in 2024 compared to Disney’s $59.7 billion. Analysts predict that YouTube should claim the top spot sometime this year.
According to Nielsen, YouTube was the #1 TV channel in the U.S. in February, ahead of Disney, Fox (home to the Super Bowl!), and Netflix. And that’s not just among young people. In fact, people over 50 accounted for about 36% of all time spent watching YouTube on TV screens – more than the combined 28% for teenagers and adults 18-34.
YouTube has also made large gains with its TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, as TikTok continues to face a possible ban in the U.S. (more on that shortly).
Takeaway
In a word, YouTube rules. As Business Insider reports, the YouTube TV subscription business is set to become the biggest pay-tv provider in the country by 2026.
With consumers of all ages spending an extraordinary amount of time on YouTube, marketers are paying much more attention – and allocating more advertising funds than ever – to the platform. (Case in point: When you hear about politicians trying to reach audiences via podcasts, that also means they’re trying to reach them via YouTube.)
Referrals from Search Engines See Large Decline
A sizable slowdown in traffic from traditional search is unlikely to be offset by AI chatbots
According to Axios, referrals from AI chatbots to the top 500 news sites increased by 5.5 million between February 2024 and February 2025, but that wasn’t enough to offset the losses of more than 64 million search engine referrals during the same period.
While search is far from dead – the top 500 news sites still received 2.3 billion referrals from traditional search engines in February 2025 compared to 6 million referrals from AI chatbots – some experts believe we are at the beginning of a “terminal decline” in search traffic to web publishers.
Takeaway
Search is still big business for companies like Google. In 2024, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) reported a whopping $198.08 billion in revenue from “search engine and other related services,” but did report slowing growth from its search business in the third quarter of 2024 according to the Wall Street Journal.
Traditional search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing, as well as publishers themselves, must contend with evolving user habits that include more time with AI chatbots and increased dependence on social media as a one-stop shop for news and information. AI chatbots, which summarize information from multiple sources, present a challenge for web publishers as the end user has less need to click through to read source material. Meanwhile, younger demographics are gravitating towards Instagram and TikTok searches to “find information.”
Google and Microsoft know AI is the future. Both companies recently announced massive investments in growing the technology, with Google announcing $75 billion and Microsoft announcing an $80 billion investment for 2025.
President Donald Trump Signs Another Executive Order Delaying TikTok Ban
Trump says he won’t enforce the law until June 19
President Donald Trump issued a new executive order on April 4 to extend the enforcement delay of the law that required TikTok to be sold to a U.S. buyer or be banned. The new executive order extends the delay to June 19, 2025.
Takeaway
With Trump engaging in a full-blown trade war with China, we don’t think a TikTok deal is likely anytime soon. Trump also seems content to kick the can down the road, especially since no one seems to be challenging his executive orders over TikTok.
According to the Associated Press, Trump’s executive orders have generated more than 130 lawsuits, but not a single one challenges his ability to direct the Department of Justice to ignore a law that was passed and signed with large bipartisan support. And few of the 431 members of the House and Senate who voted for the law have complained.
The L@B Report has detailed in past issues how TikTok has waged its public affairs campaign to different degrees of success. With Trump continuing to punt, and the absence of any opposition, it appears that TikTok’s campaigns have been successful.
More from GSG
GSG has synthesized our latest data on media consumption with public sources to map how audiences are consuming information today – and what that means for how communication strategies need to evolve.
Our key findings include:
- Platforms like YouTube are changing the meaning of “TV.”
- Social media platforms like TikTok are changing the nature of news, giving independent creators a platform on level with major media organizations.
- Streaming has taken over even “live” cable TV, and podcasts are now prime political platforms.
- Younger audiences are increasingly turning to platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for information, especially when it comes to current events.
Perhaps the most important shift: audiences aren’t necessarily seeking news – it’s finding them.
Read our full report now, and sign up for a webinar to dive into the findings with our experts next Wednesday, April 23.