Today, May 21 2012, YouTube is celebrating seven years since its first video hit the net. In those seven years YouTube has dramatically changed how and by whom the world can be seen and has allowed online video to explode on mobile and traditional devices. The company put together this great video following their amazing story and showcase revealing statistics of just how popular the site really is.

YouTube is the leading video site by a wide margin now receives 72 hours of video each minute compared to 48 hours a minute last year. That kind of growth speaks volumes for a platform that doesn’t really see a decline in users for years to come. YouTube has hardly scratched the surface when it comes to creating their own original content and showcasing their original channels. In the next few years, YouTube can make huge strides in becoming the first successful online video distributor for original content, and I hope that they do succeed in doing so, which will help put pressure on Big Cable and their reign of terror.

As with any company hoping to solidify itself as an industry leader, it needs statistics to help prove their worth. YouTube does well to keep track of their accomplishments, and here are a few worth highlighting.

YouTube Statistics:

• Over 4 billion videos are viewed a day
• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or almost 140 views for every person on Earth YouTube is monetizing over 3 billion video views per week globally
• 98 of AdAge’s Top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network
• YouTube mobile gets over 600 million views a day, and traffic from mobile devices tripled in 2011
• 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute
• 100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments, etc.) every week

YouTube wrote on their blog page:

We’ve come along way in the past 7 years. What started as a handful of videos shared among friends has transformed into a global platform delivering the next generation of channels to anyone, anywhere, and on any device. This last year was especially big for us. We helped bring more great channels to YouTube and we redesigned the site, making it easier for you to discover, watch and subscribe to the videos you love. And all 800 million of you all over the world have shown us we’re on the right track by increasing subscriptions 50% and watching over 3 billion hours a month…Throughout our seven years you’ve made the YouTube community what it is. Thank you!

YouTube has a lot to be thankful for, and advertisers have a lot to look forward to. If these past seven years have revealed anything, it is that YouTube has the ability to reach more people around the world than any other online video site.