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YouTube making billions from ads on pirated videos of Top Gun and Squid Game, claims report
A report claims YouTube runs ads for major brands alongside pirated content, raising concerns over copyright violations.
A bombshell report has accused YouTube of running advertisements for major brands and political campaigns alongside pirated content, allegedly allowing the platform to profit from copyright violations. According to a New York Post report citing Google insiders and a 300-page analysis by the research firm Adalytics, YouTube ads have appeared on illegal uploads of blockbuster movies and streaming shows.
Among the most eye-catching claims: an advertisement from the Trump National Committee was shown ahead of a pirated version of Top Gun: Maverick, while Olay’s body wash ad played before an unauthorised Russian-language upload of Squid Game. Ads for Pizza Hut and General Motors reportedly ran alongside a pirated Spanish version of the 2025 film Sinners.
The Adalytics report raises concerns that YouTube is profiting from a system that serves high-value ads on pirated content, often on obscure channels with low subscriber counts. One marketing executive told the outlet that YouTube appears to be enabling the practice for "financial benefit."
"They are pocketing the money and continuing on,” the executive said. “I would see these really random YouTube channels, typically foreign language with very small viewership, all of a sudden in the course of like 20 minutes, rack up thousands of dollars of spend.”
In response to the allegations, a YouTube spokesperson told the New York Post that the platform removes infringing content when detected and refunds advertisers if ads are mistakenly placed.
“When we become aware of channels that repeatedly upload content they don’t own, we terminate the channel, and if ads were running on this content, we credit the advertiser,” the spokesperson said.
