YouTube's Top Advertisers Increased Their Spending by 60% in Q2

In Google's second quarter earnings report today, the tech giant revealed that YouTube viewership is growing faster than it has in two years, and advertiser money is following.

YouTube's mobile users averaged 40 minutes per session during Q2, which represents a 50 percent increase year over year while ultimately helping the Mountain View, Calif.-based player beat Wall Street expectations. The number of advertisers rose 40 percent year over year on the video platform, while the average spend of YouTube's top 100 advertisers rose 60 percent.

Google generated $17.3 billion last quarter with a $3.9 billion profit, leading to a $60-plus after-hours jump in the company's stock price, which stood at $642 at press time.

The company's search, display, video and programmatic advertising helped increase revenue by 13 percent to $12.4 billion on Google-owned sites. Paid clicks on Google sites were up 30 percent, but the cost per clicks was down 16 percent.

There are more 18- to-49-year-olds on YouTube than there are consumers who watch cable TV, Porat said. "Advertisers want to reach these audiences, and our focus is on the opportunity to get larger budgets moved to YouTube," she said in a call with analysts today.

Here are a few other year-over-year stats that Google shared about YouTube:

• YouTube has more than 1 billion users.
• The number of users who visited the site directly via its homepage tripled compared to last year.
• The number of YouTube stars—like Michelle Phan or Grace Helbig—earning six figures was up 50 percent.