The problem at Google
- Functional: upload videos, watch with adaptive quality, search, like/comment/subscribe, get recommendations.
- Non-functional: fast upload + processing, low startup latency, high availability, massive scale.
- Scale: ~500 hours uploaded/minute, ~2B users, ~1B hours watched/day.
- Consistency: view/like counts can be eventually consistent (sampled counters); a video must be playable once processed.
Out of scope (covered in detail below)
Live streaming, Shorts, the ads auction, comments moderation at scale, and Content ID — deferred and discussed in the dedicated section.
At Google, this problem is framed around algorithmic rigor and generalist problem-solving. Expect Google-specific scale numbers and a focus on production readiness and the company's engineering bar.
Unlock the full guide
Premium members get every DSA, system design, company and role interview guide — plus AI practice, mock interviews, and analytics.
Unlock with Premium