Pause ads are getting an even bigger boost, thanks to YouTube.
YouTube has confirmed it has expanded pause ads. Advertisers can now access paused screen inventory across its platform, and users can expect to encounter more ads when they pause videos. A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge, “As we’ve seen both strong advertiser and strong viewer response, we’ve since widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers.”
The company initially started piloting pause ads in the first quarter. The success of the pilot phase was clear in comments made by Google’s Philipp Schindler during the company’s Q1 earnings call: “We saw strong traction from the introduction of a pause ads pilot on connected TVs, a new non-interruptive ad format that appears when users pause their organic content.”
Why This Matters:
This is part of a broader trend. In the past year, all of the major streaming platforms and CTV providers, including Amazon Prime Video, LG, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Max, have either announced plans to introduce or have begun implementing pause ads in their services.
What’s interesting about pause ads or comparable native screensaver ads is they appear during moments when viewers might not seem engaged with the content on screen. Maybe they’re grabbing a drink, using the bathroom, or frantically vacuuming their child’s bedtime snack crumbs from the rug (the latter might just be a personal experience).
This raises the question: Does it make sense to show an ad at that moment?
LG Ads recently launched its own screensaver-format ad and released research challenging the assumption that viewer engagement drops when the TV is idle. LG claimed that their tests found that “the assumption that a viewer’s attention is limited once the television screen is idle” simply isn’t true.
Experts React:
One adtech exec on X commented, “I watched Oppenheimer on peacock when it came out, and beside a pre-roll pods there were only pause ads.” He described this as “a great experience for the user,” echoing what YouTube and others are saying.
Our Take:
Despite some user concerns about a more cluttered ad experience, look, pause ads are a positive development. The economics of streaming have proven challenging — (good) content is increasingly expensive, and audiences have too many streaming platform options. They’re less likely to spend on multiple services. So, introducing more ads for ad-supported tiers was always inevitable, as it maximizes monetization by giving brands more opportunities to engage viewers. Ultimately, for the end-user, if they’re being honest about it, a pause ad is preferable to another ad break. It’s less intrusive and doesn’t interrupt the flow of content.
The pause ad trend, from YouTube and others, also demonstrates that on the biggest screen in the home, all viewing time – even pauses or so-called “idle time” – can be valuable for advertisers.
