YouTube rolls out India-first-rural-urban ad targeting ahead of festive season
Alongside the targeting solution, YouTube introduced an immersive masthead ad format for connected televisions (CTV) in India. Its masthead, the most prominent ad placement, will help brands drive awareness and traffic during key cultural and festive moments.
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YouTube, owned by Google, on September 11 unveiled a new India-first ad targeting feature that lets brands reach urban and rural audiences separately, just in time for the festive season.
The announcement was made at YouTube Brandcast India 2025, the company's annual showcase for advertisers and marketers.
Shubha Pai, Head of Brand Solutions at Google India, told Moneycontrol that the feature will allow advertisers to personalise campaigns based on customer behaviour, cultural preferences, and purchasing power.
"Think about the personalisation, the differences in messaging, language-related regional communications. All of that can happen now,” Pai said.
She revealed that a large FMCG conglomerate had already piloted the feature to target specific rural geographies, resulting in strong business outcomes. "They have now switched to YouTube-led planning in those regions," Pai added.
Immersive ad formats on connected TV
Alongside the targeting solution, YouTube introduced an immersive masthead ad format for connected televisions (CTV) in India.
The platform said its masthead, the most prominent ad placement, will help brands drive awareness and traffic during key cultural and festive moments.
As of April 2025, YouTube reached over 75 million people aged 18 and above in India via connected TV, with viewers spending more than half their watch time on long-form content of 21 minutes or more. The average Indian online adult spent over 72 minutes daily on YouTube.
Consumption of YouTube Shorts on CTV has more than doubled year-on-year, with over 650 million monthly logged-in viewers in India as of June 2025.
AI takes center stage with Gemini and Veo 3
Google also announced that its Creator Partnerships Hub will launch later this year, helping advertisers discover and collaborate with creators through Partnership Ads and improved sponsored video discovery.
Looking ahead, Google plans to extend Peak Points, powered by Gemini AI, to India in 2026. The feature analyzes YouTube videos to identify moments of peak engagement, helping brands time their ads for maximum impact.
Pai highlighted that Gemini AI is transforming creative workflows. Brands such as Swiggy Instamart and FMCG majors have already used Veo 3, Google's AI video generator, to create campaigns in multiple Indian languages for Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Onam.
“The time to create first versions of assets has dropped to three to four hours compared with several weeks earlier. These AI-generated creatives also delivered a 12–14% increase in purchase intent,” Pai noted.
Brands doubling down on YouTube
Ashish Mishra, CMO of Acko, said the insurtech brand has adopted a digital-first media approach, with YouTube as its primary medium, the report added. "By leveraging connected TV and our first-party data, we’ve reached premium audiences with precision and scaled our business cost-effectively,” Mishra said.
The company now plans to expand into YouTube's creator ecosystem and explore Google AI tools to strengthen its campaigns.
Pai summed up the shift: “AI creates a far more level playing field. Earlier, you needed access to a creative agency or deep pockets. Today, what you need more is creativity.”
With over 750 million users, India remains Google’s largest market - and a critical test bed for its AI-driven advertising innovations.
