Top 10 Buzzed-About Brands in 2012

#9: YouTube

Individual YouTube videos aren’t the only thing people are talking about these days — they are talking about the site itself as well. YouTube — owned by No. 10 Google, of course — made the top 10 in 2012 for the first time.

YouGov credited “Gangnam Style” — the dance video fad — for part of the site’s popularity. It was YouTube’s first video to pass 1 billion views, and it led to countless spin-offs.

The site’s popularity is evident on social media as well; YouTube was the fourth-most-liked page overall at the end of last year.