YouTube at 20: Platform says more than 20 billion videos have been uploaded since 2005

YouTube celebrated the anniversary of its first video on Wednesday.

Exactly 20 years ago, a grainy 19-second video titled "Me at the zoo" was uploaded to YouTube by one of its founders, quietly launching a then-small platform into the world.

Now, the Google-owned video giant says it is home to more than 20 billion videos. And it's celebrating. (The number was updated in YouTube’s blog post after the platform previously reported the figure was 20 trillion videos.)

The video giant commemorated the anniversary of its first video upload on Wednesday with a blog post unveiling new features, statistics and "easter eggs" for users of the platform.

"On average, there are over 20 million videos uploaded daily to YouTube," the platform said in its news release. User engagement with videos is also high, with the platform sharing that last year, on average, its videos "received over 3.5 billion likes from users per day."

The milestone comes amid the rise of the creator economy, which includes millions of social media personalities who make money through brand deals, platform monetization and audience subscriptions. Research from Goldman Sachs in 2023 predicted that the total market opportunity of the creator economy could reach $480 billion by 2027.