Around 82 per cent of YouTube smart TV (Connected TV or CTV) viewers in India prefer watching YouTube over linear TV, said Google Ads. The trend is also driving more advertisers towards CTV, as per the company data.
“In India and Japan, YouTube is the most watched streaming service on connected TV’s. As a result of this shift, an increasing number of advertisers are prioritizing building connected TV ad campaigns into their media strategies, and we see viewers responding positively,” said Dan Taylor, Vice President, Global Ads, Google.
As an example, the company in its report talked about how QR Codes experience on YouTube CTV increased conversion rate for Kia India by 3.6 times.
“Kia, a leading OEM in India, was looking for a way to drive more actionability from their CTV campaigns and bring viewers onto their website. In the build up to the 2024 festive period, they leveraged the QR Codes experience with YouTube CTV for Kia’s latest Seltos campaign. The campaign saw an OTP-verified conversion rate increase of 3.6 times compared to normal, proving that QR Codes on CTV can efficiently bridge the gap between the upper and lower funnel.
Taylor also talked about how Google Ad tools like Performance Match helped Puma improve scale across Google platforms, resulting in a 35 per cent lower cost per sale compared to all paid channels and 66 per cent higher ROI than other channels.
Creator content central to TV viewing
According to Google, over 50 per cent YouTube CTV watch time in India is spent on content that is 21 minutes or longer.
“Creator content is now central to TV viewing – hyper-relevant, personal, and culturally tuned. From Gaurav Kapur on sports to deep dives into tech with Technical Guruji, and beauty content by regional creators, YouTube offers something for everyone – unlocking authentic ways to connect with Indian audiences across genres, formats, and languages,” said Google in its report.
It added that 72 per cent of surveyed respondents in India said YouTube Shorts Ads help them decide what to purchase over 2 times higher than other short-form video services.
Published on April 22, 2025
