YouTube announced today the YouTube Ads Cannes Leaderboard, the annual top 10 most watched ads on YouTube in the last 12 months (June 2022- May 2023). The YouTube Ads Leaderboard, now in its eighth year, spans 28 countries across five continents and is seen as a source of pride for the winning brands and agencies throughout the advertising community.

The YouTube Cannes Ads Leaderboard is a list of the top 10 most popular video ads globally from June 2021 to May 2022. The ranking is determined using some of YouTube's strongest signals of viewer affinity including watch time, paid views, and organic views.

The YouTube Ads Leaderboard showcases the most creative ads that people choose to watch. Ads are determined by an algorithm that uses data (e.x. public views, organic views, organic ratio, etc.) pulled from an internal dashboard that indicates audience engagement and retention. YouTube Ads Leaderboard placements are also limited to one ad per brand in order to better reflect the broad range, quality, and popularity of YouTube ads throughout the year. This year’s list totals 213.5MM views, 2.5MM likes, and 70K comments.

Three advertisers in MENA made it to the top list this year –

Anthony Nakache, Managing Director for Google, MENA, said, "It's great to see the MENA region's diversity and creativity shine through on YouTube this year. This exemplifies the different formats on YouTube that allow brands to explore different styles and approaches to storytelling on the platform.  The viewership and engagement numbers are a testament to how great creative can connect with people on YouTube."

"YouTube is one of the main platforms that helps us increase top-of-mind awareness. Different Google solutions such as Performance Max, DV360, and App campaigns help us increase the business results for app installs and lead generation with a very efficient cost.” said, the spokesperson for Orange Egypt.

Mohamed Abutaleb, Commercial Vice President, Telecom Egypt further added, In today’s competitive technology marketplace, agility is key to product success. I rely on my teams to always be ready to test, adjust and reshape our digital communication to create the best advertising experience while staying true to our commercial strategy and long-haul objectives. Google ad technology has been integral to our success on that front.”

 

Commenting on the recognition, Qatar Airways' spokesperson said, “The official Qatar Airways FIFA World Cup™ song was released in November and premiered at an event hosted by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “Champions”, which is dedicated to fans everywhere, featuring Cheb Khaled and DJ Rodge received 23+ million views on YouTube and was available for download and streaming – it was the second iconic track specially created for the airline during the year.” “YouTube is a great place for driving brand awareness and one of the key channels to communicate to a wide audience of football fans from around the world.”

Netflix took the number one spot with a well-executed prank in New York City promoting the new Tim Burton series and Addams Family spinoff Wednesday. Max’s official trailer for the new hit series Last of Us generated the most comments with an impressive 26K.