Yes I've made some money, though it's not exactly a ton (a few hundred quid every few weeks).
Unfortunately, I kinda screwed up a few times, and forgot to monetise popular videos until way later than I should have. Like that video with 6 million views or so? Wasn't monetised until it got about half of that, which was probably a very stupid mistake.
As for whether it's lucrative in general? Eh it depends on the niche, but generally not if we're talking ads. You need hundreds of thousands of views per video to really do well from those alone, and even that is heavily dependent on the subject matter in question and the audience you've drawn in (their country, demographics, etc). Most of the folks I know who do YouTube stuff full time tend to make a decent chunk of their money from Patreon and sponsorships instead, and I know at least one creator who stopped making stuff altogether due to it not covering their living costs (in a fairly cheap, rural part of China mind you).
Unfortunately, I kinda screwed up a few times, and forgot to monetise popular videos until way later than I should have. Like that video with 6 million views or so? Wasn't monetised until it got about half of that, which was probably a very stupid mistake.
As for whether it's lucrative in general? Eh it depends on the niche, but generally not if we're talking ads. You need hundreds of thousands of views per video to really do well from those alone, and even that is heavily dependent on the subject matter in question and the audience you've drawn in (their country, demographics, etc). Most of the folks I know who do YouTube stuff full time tend to make a decent chunk of their money from Patreon and sponsorships instead, and I know at least one creator who stopped making stuff altogether due to it not covering their living costs (in a fairly cheap, rural part of China mind you).