YouTube has officially confirmed that it has officially expanded its controversial pause ad format to all advertisers, marking a significant shift in how users will experience ads on the platform.
Initially launched in a pilot program in 2023 with a select group of advertisers, the pause ads have proven to be a lucrative innovation for Google’s video platform. In April 2024, Google’s chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, noted the format’s success, calling it a hit among advertisers.
Over the past week, Reddit users began noticing the wider rollout, fuelling discussions about the future of advertising on YouTube.
“As we’ve seen both strong advertiser and strong viewer response, we’ve since widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers,” Oluwa Falodun, YouTube comms manager told The Verge.
The concept behind pause ads is simple: when users pause a video, an ad appears on-screen instead of interrupting the content. YouTube claims this creates a “less interruption” experience, suggesting that users will have a smoother viewing session compared to regular ads.
However, the company has not indicated whether this new format will reduce the frequency of traditional ads. YouTube has previously experimented with longer but fewer ads, though no mention of similar changes has been made for the pause ads.
YouTube’s approach mirrors similar moves by other streaming platforms. Hulu and AT&T were among the first to introduce pause ads, with Sling TV joining the trend in July 2024. Sling TV offers users the option to disable them via the settings menu.
However, no such opt-out feature has been mentioned for YouTube users, leaving them little control over the new ad format.
While the paused ad format will certainly boost YouTube’s revenue, users’ reactions remain to be seen, especially as the platform continues to expand its suite of unskippable and non-traditional ads.
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