this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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I think it’s running it at a loss too. But there’s no reason these platforms couldn’t be publicly owned.
It was, but monetization has been so aggressively everywhere that I think they finally are in the black at least since 2018.
I had no idea. You’re right. It was a $15B business in 2019. https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/3/21121207/youtube-google-alphabet-earnings-revenue-first-time-reveal-q4-2019
Makes the ads seem even more obscene now that I know that.
That only mentions revenue, we still don't know their operating costs.
You’re right 🤦🏻♂️
Publicly owned by which government? Because I don't think YouTube's home of the US is really a good choice right now.
I agree. I’m not thinking about USA at all.
As for the EU, we should fund a federated or decentralised system. I think it works well on Lemmy. For example I know not to trust feddit.org for anything related to Palestine. Content on other servers shows their pro-Israel bias.
I think a system like that could benefit the US to a point, at least until the government block all external news and commentary.
A centralized platform providing infrastructure could be financed using a tax on every internet subscription.
That's actually not a bad idea, but who would hold that money? Elon and Ron DeSantis showed that anyone can just waltz into a government office and steal all their money.