Alphabet added 25 million paid subscriptions in the first quarter, bringing its total to 350 million across services, the company said on Wednesday. YouTube and Google One plans drove most of the gain, Alphabet said, as the firm bundles advanced AI features with some storage plans. YouTube ad revenue rose year on year but fell short of analyst expectations, while cloud revenue topped $20 billion. The results show subscriptions are becoming a larger part of Alphabet’s mix alongside advertising.

Quarterly jump and where it came from

Alphabet said its paid subscriptions rose by 25 million in Q1. That takes the company’s paid user tally to 350 million. The number was 325 million at the end of Q4 2025.

YouTube and Google One were the main drivers. Google One is the company’s cloud storage and subscription service. Alphabet said Google One plans that include access to advanced Gemini features have been expanding. The company singled out that bundling as a growth factor.

Gemini: growth without a headline number

Alphabet didn't publish a fresh total for Gemini subscribers or for monthly active users. The company left out a specific headcount in its earnings materials. That follows a prior quarter benchmark of more than 750 million users for Gemini.

Alphabet did report a different metric for Gemini in enterprise. Paid monthly active users in that market grew 40 percent quarter on quarter, the company said. But no overall user total was supplied for Gemini in the earnings data.

Ads versus subscriptions at YouTube

YouTube ad sales were up year on year. Alphabet reported roughly $9.9 billion in YouTube ad revenue for the quarter.

That figure represents an 11 percent increase compared with the same quarter a year earlier.

Mastheads

Still, ad revenue fell short of analyst expectations. The quarter’s $9.88 billion missed a $9.99 billion consensus.

Alphabet has been pushing subscriptions as an alternative to ad-supported viewing. The shift matters because when consumers switch to ad-free plans, ad revenue can decline even as overall revenue from the service rises.

Alphabet called on investors last quarter to judge YouTube on both ads and subscriptions together. This company pointed to last year’s combined result as context. In 2025, YouTube’s annual revenue exceeded $60 billion across ads and subscriptions, the company said. That mix matters for how the business will be evaluated going forward.

Cloud and the wider revenue picture

Alphabet reported total revenue of $109.9 billion for the quarter. Cloud contributed strongly. Cloud revenue topped $20 billion in the quarter, according to the company’s results.

Those figures helped the company beat Wall Street’s broad revenue expectations. Alphabet’s stock rose after the results, reflecting the market’s reaction to the mix of growth across ads, subscriptions and cloud services.

Consumers who prefer ad-free video now have a clearer path to that experience via subscriptions, and Alphabet is packaging AI access into subscription tiers. That makes Google One a more than just storage product for paying customers.

Advertisers face a shifting balance. More subscribers who opt out of ads reduce the pool of ad impressions available. Yet ad revenue is still growing year on year, which suggests demand for video advertising remains solid even as some viewers move to paid plans.

Enterprise customers are another group to watch. Alphabet reported a fast rise in paid Gemini use in business settings. A 40 percent quarter-on-quarter jump in paid monthly active users in enterprise points to faster uptake by organisations paying for advanced AI features.

Alphabet is leaning on subscriptions to diversify revenue. Subscriptions bring recurring payments. They also change how services are monetised, moving some revenue from ads to fees.

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Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $109.9 billion, with cloud revenue topping $20 billion.

This article was created with AI assistance.