The table compares the average length of different types of YouTube advertisements and the average amount of time viewers spend watching them.
Overall, public service advertisements are the longest and also attract the highest viewing time. In contrast, lifestyle advertisements have relatively long durations but the lowest audience retention. Another noticeable feature is that viewers generally watch only part of each advertisement, regardless of category.
Public service ads last an average of 66.7 seconds, which is significantly higher than any other type. People watch these advertisements for 28.1 seconds on average, the highest figure in the table. Entertainment and news advertisements rank second in viewer attention, with audiences watching 26.5 seconds out of an average length of 30.8 seconds. Similarly, business and finance ads achieve a relatively high viewing time of 24.6 seconds despite being only 35.1 seconds long.
At the other end of the scale, pharmaceutical and clothing advertisements are among the shortest, at 21.8 and 23.4 seconds respectively, while viewers spend approximately 16 seconds watching them. Lifestyle advertisements show the greatest difference between ad length and viewing time, lasting 33.7 seconds but being watched for only 14.3 seconds on average.
In general, the overall average advertisement length is 38.1 seconds, whereas viewers watch only 20.4 seconds, suggesting that audiences tend to skip ads before they finish.