The five seconds before the “Skip Ad” option appears on YouTube may feel like the longest five seconds to many people, but some seem to be pretty fond of advertisements on the video streaming website.
The top 10 Indian ads on YouTube in 2016 have clocked a breathtaking 4,00,000 hours of watchtime between January and June. Around 60% of this viewing was on mobile phones, Google said in a statement announcing its “YouTube Ads Leaderboard” for India on Wednesday.
The leaderboard includes top 10 Indian ads on YouTube during January-June. “Ads are determined by an algorithm that factors in paid views, organic views and audience retention (how much of a video people watched),” Google said in a statement.
The top YouTube ads came from a variety of industries and companies, including domestic automaker Bajaj, American e-commerce giant Amazon, ticket booking portal MakeMyTrip, television channel Star Sports, and beverage brands Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
“Storytelling emerged as the winning ingredient for Indian viewers, with six of the 10 ads running far longer than the typical 60-second television commercial,” Google said. “Further, based on the average watchtime per ad, it is clear that customers are willing to invest their time and attention on advertising that is narrative-driven and takes audiences along on a journey.”
Below are the top 10 YouTube ads in India during the first half of this year:
Bajaj V motorcycle
Number of views: 3.6 million
Amazon India
Number of views: 2.8 million
MakeMyTrip
Number of views: 2.5 million
Royal Challenge Sports Drink
Number of views: 2.4 million
Hitachi Home
Number of views: 1.5 million
Star Sports
Number of views: 1.5 million
Coca Cola India
Number of views: 1.4 million
Pepsi India
Number of views: 1.3 million
Ariel India
Number of views: 1.3 million
Samsung Mobile
Number of views: 1.1 million
This article first appeared on Quartz.
