It's Thursday and if you’re willing to put your tastebuds in the hands of AI, Yelp’s new restaurant summaries are here to turn your next date night debate into an easy decision.

Q4 REPORT

YouTube scored $9.2 billion in Q4 ad revenue. Now, execs are ready to double-down on AI.

Alphabet’s mixed Q4 results may not have impressed Wall Street, but YouTube’s quarterly ad revenue is nothing to sneeze at. Will the platform’s growing AI portfolio lead to even bigger gains next quarter?

The good news: Alphabet’s Q4 earnings report wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows—but for the most part, the tech giant ended 2023 on a high note. In total, Alphabet’s topline revenue of $86.31 billion exceeded projections by about $1 billion.

• That win has a lot to do with YouTube. The video platform reached $9.2 billion in ad revenue in Q4 (up from $7.96 billion a year ago), representing a 15% year-over-year increase.

The bad news: Other subsidiaries produced less-than-thrilling results. Between growing industry competition and costly layoffs at Google, Alphabet’s flagship search engine fell just short of expectations with a quarterly revenue of $48 billion.

• The earnings report also revealed that Google has allocated $700 million for severance in the current quarter—a less than encouraging sign for the company’s employees.
  
  

• The result: on the day its Q4 results were released, Alphabet’s stock price fell by approximately 5%.

The big picture: Mixed results aside, Alphabet execs seem confident about the tech giant’s next steps. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told investors that his company is “already benefiting from our AI investments and innovation,” while Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler emphasized AI’s ability to “supercharge” the production of “more content, which leads to more viewers…and drive the eyeballs and engagement our advertisers want.”

• The takeaway: YouTube and Google are likely to continue investing heavily in AI over the next few quarters—especially as they seek to woo Gen Z users, raise ad revenue, and compete with AI-embracing platforms like TikTok.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Donald De La Haye—aka creator Deestroying—has signed with the San Antonio Brahmas of the newly-formed United Football League (UFL). (Tubefilter)
  

• After summoning CEOs from Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord to a hearing on child safety, a bipartisan group of Senators are pushing the Kids Online Safety Act. (Tubefilter)
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• Universal Music Group is reportedly “expected to remove its entire library of songs from TikTok” after accusing the platform of exploiting “vulnerable artists.” (Gizmodo)
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• X CEO Linda Yaccarino informed Congress yesterday that teenagers account for only 1% of the platform’s self-reported total of 90 million U.S. users. (TechCrunch)

COLUMNS • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈

The Korean Vegan has a lot on her plate (but she’s making it work)

Joanne Molinaro (aka The Korean Vegan) was already a successful food blogger with a flourishing legal career when she decided to “see what all the fuss was about” on TikTok. Three years later, she’s a full-time creator with 3 million followers—and big plans for the coming year.

How it started: Back in 2016, Molinaro decided video content wasn’t for her. She’d browsed through a variety of big-budget cooking vlogs on YouTube and wasn’t feeling great about her chances of standing out. So, she decided to bring her cooking and storytelling talents to Instagram.

• Within two years, Molinaro had 30,000 followers and a signed book deal. That cookbook was still under development when the creator’s literary agent began nudging her to expand to different platforms.
  
  

• With the pandemic in full swing, Molinaro decided to give TikTok a shot. It took only two videos for her new food-focused channel to go viral.

How it’s going: Fast forward to 2024, and Molinaro’s career as a content creator is in full swing. In addition to entertaining a devoted TikTok following, she now claims over a million followers on YouTube and is hard at work on her second cookbook manuscript. The creator just released her own Skillshare class, too, meaning fans have more access to her content than ever before.

What’s up next: From focusing on her podcast to “doubling down” on her recipe app and putting out more instructional cooking videos, Molinaro is ready to majorly expand her brand in 2024.

• Find out more about her upcoming plans (and the social media journeys of dozens of other Creators on the Rise) right here on tubefilter.com.

DATA • U.S. TOP 50 📈

From TikTok to Shorts, this beauty creator is a multiplatform superstar

With 31 million followers and a rapidly growing video library, Brooke Monk is undoubtedly a TikTok powerhouse. Now, the Gen Z creator is bringing her short-form skills to YouTube.

The creator: Monk might be one of TikTok’s 100 most-followed creators, but the former Hype House member doesn’t limit herself to just one genre or platform. Since her early days on TikTok—which were typified by a traditional mix of lip-syncing and dance videos—Monk has attracted millions of followers by posting #fitchecks on X, makeup videos on Instagram Reels, and relatable couples content on YouTube.

The content: That audience has grown significantly over the past year; in the last three months alone, Monk added nearly 1 million subscribers to her YouTube fanbase.

• It’s easy to see why the creator’s videos are a hit with Shorts viewers: by leveraging trending sounds, TikTok-friendly formats, and hashtags like #school, Monk has tailored her content to appeal directly to YouTube’s expansive Gen Z audience.

The stats: That strategy took Monk’s YouTube channel to new heights in the first month of 2024.

• During the final full week of January, the TikTok transplant raked in a whopping 106.2 million weekly views.
  
  

• That figure added up to a 28% week-over-week viewership increase, bringing Monk’s channel to #50 in our U.S. Top 50 chart.
  
  

• The result: the short-form star now claims more than 3.6 billion lifetime views on YouTube.

WATCH THIS 📺

The Sidemen are bringing their origin story to Netflix

The Sidemen Story is coming to Netflix just in time for Valentine’s Day. According to director Luke Hyams, the upcoming documentary will tell “an inspirational decade-plus story of friendship, ambition, perseverance and seven grown men who still love to play Hide N Seek.”

Fans of Sidemen members KSI, Zerkaa, Miniminter, Vikkstar123, TBJZL, W2S, and Behzinga can get a sneak peek at the Netflix film on the group’s X feed.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.