Approximately 70% of Japanese people over the age of 18 use YouTube “YouTube Brandcast Japan 2024” held, latest trends announced

On October 23rd, Google Japan held an event for advertisers called “YouTube Brandcast 2024” at Tokyo Garden Theater. At this event, the latest usage trends of YouTube users and examples of its use in marketing were announced.

Mr. Shinji Okuyama spoke at the event.

Regarding recent trends in YouTube usage in Japan, it was found that as of May 2024, there were over 73.7 million monthly users over the age of 18 (over 68% of Japanese over the age of 18). The company also presented three YouTube trends: short videos, connected TV, and shopping.

For YouTube Shorts, the number of users watching has increased by more than 20% compared to last year. Furthermore, regarding connected TV, the amount of viewing time “watching YouTube on TV” has more than doubled over the three years from 2020 to 2023. Regarding shopping, growth trends were shared based on concrete data, such as 61% of Japanese viewers saying “YouTube helps me decide what to buy.”

At the event, marketing examples were presented by Kao, Recruit, Coca-Cola Japan, and MIXI.

Shinji Okuyama, representative of Google Japan, who took the stage at YouTube Brandcast 2024, particularly mentioned the use of AI among the company’s initiatives. He said that “At Google, we aim to realize AI that is useful to everyone,” and gave a presentation that “AI is entering the era of practical use, and AI utilization will evolve in areas other than advertising distribution.”

During the event, the recruitment outline for “YouTube Works Awards Japan 2025” will also be announced. In 2025, it will be implemented in eight departments. This year’s chairpersons will be Dentsu Group Global Chief Creative Officer Yasuharu Sasaki and YouTube creator Hiro Odagiri, and applications will be accepted from October 23, 2024 to February 20, 2025.