Indians spent 400,000 hours watching these 10 YouTube ads this year

Watching.
Watching.
Image: Reuters/Dado Ruvic
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The five seconds before the “Skip Ad” option on YouTube may feel like the longest five seconds to many people, but some appear to be pretty fond of ads on the video streaming website.

The top 10 Indian ads on YouTube in 2016 have clocked a breathtaking 400,000 hours of watchtime between January and June 2016. Around 60% of this viewing was on mobile phones, Google said in a statement announcing its “YouTube Ads Leaderboard” for India today (July 27).

The leaderboard includes top 10 Indian ads on YouTube during January-June 2016. “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