YouTube, the Online Video Powerhouse, Turns 20 

A picture taken on October 5, 2021 in Toulouse shows the logo of YouTube social media displayed by a by a tablet and a smartphone. (AFP)
A picture taken on October 5, 2021 in Toulouse shows the logo of YouTube social media displayed by a by a tablet and a smartphone. (AFP)
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YouTube, the Online Video Powerhouse, Turns 20 

A picture taken on October 5, 2021 in Toulouse shows the logo of YouTube social media displayed by a by a tablet and a smartphone. (AFP)
A picture taken on October 5, 2021 in Toulouse shows the logo of YouTube social media displayed by a by a tablet and a smartphone. (AFP)

YouTube has evolved from a dinner party lark 20 years ago into a modern lifestyle staple poised to overtake US cable television in paid viewership.

PayPal colleagues Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim conceived YouTube in 2005, reportedly during a dinner party. The domain YouTube.com launched on Valentine's Day that year.

Video uploading capabilities were added on April 23, when Karim posted the first video, titled "Me at the Zoo." The 19-second clip showing Karim at the San Diego Zoo's elephant exhibit has garnered 348 million views.

Over the next 20 years, the site has expanded beyond what was imagined possible back in 2005.

"YouTube was started by tech bros who wanted a video hosting service to watch reruns of Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' during the Super Bowl," said eMarketer analyst Ross Benes.

"Now, it's the world's largest digital video service in terms of time spent and ad revenue -- it's an utter behemoth."

YouTube reached more than 2.5 billion viewers globally last year, with its music and premium tier subscribers hitting 100 million, according to market tracker Statista.

Users worldwide watch more than a billion hours of YouTube content daily on television sets alone, Google reported.

"If you go back 20 years, it would have seemed laughable that this website with kids making parody videos would become a threat to Disney, ABC, and CBS," Benes said.

"That's what they were able to accomplish."

- 'Firehose' of videos -

YouTube's breakthrough came from challenging traditional television titans without requiring studios or production costs -- it was users who were creating and uploading the content.

The platform hosts everything from concert clips to political campaign ads to how-to videos -- and much more.

"The amount of new stuff coming out is a firehose that you can't turn off, so people are always tuning in," Benes said.

According to Google, more than 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

Analysts consider Google's 2006 purchase of YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock a pivotal moment, combining Google's search and advertising expertise with a video-sharing platform that had passionate users.

"YouTube was part of the recovery from the dot-com collapse, when people realized monetization was actually important," said tech analyst Rob Enderle. "YouTube became an example of how dot-coms should have been done, as opposed to how they were done in the late 1990s."

Google used its advertising know-how to build a successful model, sharing revenue with creators who attract significant audiences.

The company also enhanced technology and negotiated with studios to address copyright violations on what was once considered the Wild West of video content.

"The piracy aspect isn't quite there the way it used to be at YouTube," Benes noted. "They used to have nudity too."

YouTube also worked its way past concerns that disturbing content, like parody videos of popular cartoon characters in violent or risque situations, were being served up to children by its recommendation software.

The company launched a free "Kids" app promoted as a safe space for children, and is constantly tweaking its algorithm to avoid offending users, advertisers, and governments.

Analyst Enderle credited much of YouTube's development into a formidable platform to former chief executive Susan Wojcicki, who died last year.

"She was phenomenal at her job and showcased how something like this should be done," Enderle said.

- 'Part of me' -

YouTube is projected to surpass all US cable television services in paid subscribers within two years, according to Benes.

The platform now competes with streaming services like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon Prime, as well as short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram's Reels.

In response to TikTok's popularity, YouTube introduced its "Shorts" feature, which averages more than 70 billion views daily.

"As the original streaming video platform, YouTube has continued to evolve and differentiate," Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, told AFP.

"It's the de facto standard for long-form user-generated video, literally defining the modern 'creator.'"

While YouTube's recommendation algorithm has traditionally favored established creators, longtime content maker "Robert G" noted that emerging creators are once again being featured on the home page.

"I'm really happy that YouTube is changing," said Robert G, who began uploading videos in 2009.

"YouTube is part of me; it is what I do."



Morocco Bets on Video Game Industry to Provide Jobs and Diversify Economy

 Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mehdi Ben Said speaks during the Morocco Gaming Expo in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday July 2, 2025. (AP)
Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mehdi Ben Said speaks during the Morocco Gaming Expo in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday July 2, 2025. (AP)
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Morocco Bets on Video Game Industry to Provide Jobs and Diversify Economy

 Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mehdi Ben Said speaks during the Morocco Gaming Expo in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday July 2, 2025. (AP)
Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mehdi Ben Said speaks during the Morocco Gaming Expo in Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday July 2, 2025. (AP)

Morocco is laying down foundations to build a homegrown gaming industry by establishing a developer hub in the capital, training coders and launching programs to draw tech-savvy youth into the sector.

State officials invited developers, students and tech companies from around the world to a gaming expo in Rabat this week, where guests tested new games, competed in e-sports tournaments and heard about new initiatives to bring the burgeoning industry to Morocco.

Attendees at the Morocco Gaming Expo battled through shooting games, explored immersive virtual reality worlds, tested educational platforms and mingled with mobile providers eager to stake their claim in the growing mobile gaming market.

The event, in its second year, is one of the few ways in which African countries are diversifying their economies and attracting new industries for their young workforces.

Morocco is positioning itself as one of Africa's first countries to roll out targeted strategies for the gaming industry. Mehdi Ben Said, Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, said the government aims to both attract international game companies to Morocco and incentivize Moroccan developers to create their own products.

With youth unemployment close to 30% and many young people eyeing opportunities abroad, the gaming industry could be a way to spark job growth and diversify opportunities, he said.

“The objective is not only to generate revenue, but also to empower youth,” Ben Said said. “We must offer real alternatives to our young people by opening up new career opportunities.”

With more than $200 billion in annual revenue and 3 billion players, the global market for video games is undergoing rapid growth. But even as smartphones have become ubiquitous in the Middle East and Africa, the industry has remained concentrated in East Asia, North America and Western Europe.

Driven primarily by game sales, Morocco’s industry currently generates over $500 million annually, according to state officials, who aim to double this revenue by 2030.

Morocco is launching training programs in game design, programming and virtual reality alongside an industrial park where startups can incubate new games. The initiative includes a $26-million investment to open “Rabat Gaming City,” featuring training, co-working spaces and full-scale production studios.

For students the industry offers a chance to turn a passion into a career, said Fadwa Bezzazi, coordinator of Universite Mohammed V's undergraduate club in computer science and virtual reality.

Students, who are already spending money on mobile or PC games, want to find ways to put what they're learning in the classroom into practice.

“I'm not going to say we're preparing them for the future, because that future is already here,” she said.