How do Google, Meta and TikTok make money?

Written on: 9 October 2026. This article compares monetization methods, not current financial results. The descriptions of Google and Meta are based on their annual reports for the 2025 fiscal year, which ended on 31 December 2025. For TikTok, it uses official documentation on ad billing and TikTok Shop commissions in the United States, without quantifying the share represented by each activity.

Google: ads, subscriptions and cloud services

Google is part of Alphabet. According to the 2025 annual report, Google Services earns revenue primarily from advertising shown in Search, on YouTube and on third-party properties in its network. Advertisers pay to promote their products or services. Revenue also comes from subscriptions such as YouTube Premium and Google One, app sales and in-app purchases on Google Play, and Pixel devices. Source: Alphabet 2025 annual report.

Google Cloud is another segment: it generates revenue through usage-based fees and subscriptions for infrastructure, platform, application and other cloud services. So using certain services without a direct fee does not mean that all of Google’s offerings are free. Source: Alphabet 2025 annual report.

Meta: advertising and complementary services

Advertising is Meta’s main source of revenue. Advertisers pay, directly or through agencies and intermediaries, based on impressions delivered or actions such as clicks. An impression is considered delivered when an ad is shown to a user. Source: Meta 2025 annual report.

During fiscal year 2025, ad impressions increased by 12% compared with 2024, and the average price per ad increased by 9%. These are changes for that fiscal year: they do not describe developments in 2026 or the results of each app separately. Source: Meta 2025 annual report.

Meta also earns revenue from paid WhatsApp messaging and Meta Verified subscriptions. Separately, Reality Labs generates revenue from hardware, software and content. Therefore, Meta’s entire offering should not be described as free either. Source: Meta 2025 annual report.

TikTok: advertising and commercial commissions

In advertising, the advertiser that books campaigns is the one who pays. TikTok Ads Manager documentation describes three billing options: manual payment, automatic payment and monthly invoicing. Availability depends on the account and applicable requirements. These options explain how advertising is paid for, but do not indicate what percentage of TikTok’s revenue it represents. Source: TikTok Ads Manager billing options.

TikTok Shop also charges sellers a service commission, called a referral fee, on completed orders. Official US documentation also describes an administrative fee for certain refunds and exceptions to this fee. Terms may differ by category and market; no fee is presented here as universal. Source: TikTok Shop commission documentation for the United States.

The merchant’s sale amount, the commissions charged by the platform and advertising spend should be kept separate. Not everything the buyer pays becomes TikTok revenue. This distinction follows from the commission and seller settlement mechanism described in the TikTok Shop documentation.

Revenue does not mean profit

Revenue and profit are different measures: costs and expenses also affect business results. The Alphabet 2025 annual report presents them separately.

The main difference between the models

• Google combines advertising with subscriptions, apps, devices and cloud services, according to the Alphabet 2025 report.
• Meta focuses on advertising and adds paid services and Reality Labs products, according to the Meta 2025 report.
• TikTok charges for advertising campaigns and, on TikTok Shop, for commercial commissions. The sources used do not make it possible to quantify the relative share of these revenue streams.

Educational disclaimer: this content is for informational and educational purposes. It is not an investment recommendation and does not promise returns.

Image: Mailane vanesa | CC0 | Wikimedia Commons.