YouTube missed expectations on ad revenue as growth slowed down

• YouTube's ad revenue fell short of analysts' expectations for the third quarter.
• Its parent reported $11.2 billion in Q3 ads revenue, under analysts' $11.43 billion estimate.
• The company said it now has 150 million YouTube Music and premium subscribers, up from 125 million in March.

YouTube's ad revenue growth is slowing down — and missed analysts' estimates in the third quarter.

YouTube's parent company, Alphabet, reported $11.2 billion in third-quarter YouTube ads revenue, a 9% increase from a year ago. That falls below the $11.43 billion analyst consensus estimate. Its ads revenue growth also slowed from the previous quarter, when it pulled in about $11.1 billion, a 13% increase from the previous year.

While YouTube's ad revenue was weaker than expected, it wasn't all bad news.

The company said it now has over 150 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers, up from 125 million in March. It continues to pull away from rivals in other key areas, such as TV viewership, where its share of US television viewership was about twice that of Netflix in August, according to recent Nielsen estimates.

Netflix, meanwhile, walked back its ad revenue expectations during last week's earnings. The streamer lowered its ad revenue forecast from $3 billion to $2.7 billion after experiencing delays around the rollout of its ad products. It laid off about 1,000 workers earlier this month.