‘YouTube is the living room hero of Indian streaming: Shubha Pai, Google India

At the e4m Connected TV Conference held in Mumbai on June 11, Shubha Pai, Head of Brand Solutions at Google India, delivered an impassioned keynote on how YouTube was shaping what she called the "next era of entertainment in the living room".

Pai opened with a wry observation of modern consumer behaviour: "Search, scroll, stream, shop, repeat". In a world where digital actions blur into each other across devices, she argued that YouTube is uniquely positioned to sit at the heart of it all. “Only Google and YouTube can get you in front of all of these four behaviours across consumer journeys at scale,” she said.

Zooming in on Connected TV (CTV), Pai highlighted its growing ubiquity, particularly in India. “YouTube on connected TV remains the most watched streaming service. It has been so in the last 12 months,” she noted. CTV has seen exponential growth, with viewership quadrupling in just three years, and much of that driven by increasing affordability of smart TVs beyond metros. “When you go out there to buy a TV, there are no other options but to buy smart TVs,” she pointed out.

Pai painted a vivid picture of Indian living room content consumption, noting that while households toggle between three to five OTT apps on average, YouTube remains the platform that "truly gets you." She recounted her own unexpected love for stand-up comedy discovered through YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, adding, “I did not know I was interested in stand-up comedy... and now I am quite passionate about the content.”

Beyond entertainment, Pai said that travel and tourism content had surged on CTV, especially post-COVID, as Indians sought to vicariously explore the world from their couches.

Pai's address wasn’t just a celebration of YouTube’s reach, but also a showcase of its evolving advertising capabilities. She detailed the impact of immersive masthead ads on the YouTube TV app, calling them “cinematic, rich imagery” that gives brands “massive real estate on the big screen.” She cited tests that showed this format delivering 30 percent higher view-through rates and 10 percent greater engagement compared to older formats.

She also spotlighted Nestlé’s use of 30-second non-skippable ads to promote Maggi, which reached 15 million users across just six states, achieving both high brand lift and 50 percent lower CPMs. The campaign, Pai said, reflected “best-in-class lift in brand outcomes” and was now available on auction, not just reservation.

Pai’s enthusiasm peaked when describing pause ads and QR code integrations. She praised Kia’s campaign for using QR codes to book test drives directly from ads shown on big screens, reporting a 10x spike in click-throughs and 3.6x higher OTP-verified leads. “You show a beautiful car, great interiors, I really want to book a test drive. I want to be able to take that action, and that's exactly what they did.”

Looking ahead, Pai promised a more interactive, shoppable YouTube experience. “You can comment interactively as you watch, you can also click, and you can shop something from them,” she said, suggesting a seamless blend of content, commerce, and community.

Ending on a personal note, she said, “Whether you're snacking on content, watching match highlights with your family, or indulging in guilty pleasures late at night, there's something for everyone on YouTube. Because there is only one YouTube.”