YouTube’s pause-vertising is here

Next time you pause a YouTube video you’re watching on a TV screen, you might see something new pop up: an ad. Pause-vertising is already in use by streamers like Hulu, Peacock, and Max, and now YouTube–which recently beat all those services and became the first streamer to gobble up 10% of TV watch time–is giving the format its own try, with the full power of Google‘s ad targeting.

YouTube first announced it would try pause ads at Brandcast 2023, and brought them up again at Brandcast 2024 (both of which, btw, were during the annual TV-focused Upfronts rather than the digital NewFronts, since YouTube is relentlessly pursuing TV traffic). We were at both events, and can confirm the format was well-received by marketing and industry attendees, with raucous rounds of applause.

But how’s it going to be received by users, now that it’s rolling out?

Well, people almost never like having to see more ads, so the initial responses on Reddit and X are lukewarm at best. But pause ads, despite any complaints, are one of the least interruptive ad types YouTube offers. They don’t play video or sound; instead, they’re static images that appear next to the paused video player, which shrinks a little to give the ad real estate. They also have a “Dismiss” button beneath them, so users can send ’em away.

Something cool to note: The first company to adopt this ad format has been Dunkin’, which is deep in the creator space. It got its start with Charli D’Amelio‘s collab drink back in 2020 and, this past July, named foodie TikToker/YouTuber Nick DiGiovanni and streamer SypherPK to its new team of “Dunkin’Terns,” effectively making them faces of its brand.

All of the pause ads spotted in the wild so far have been Dunkin’ ads, so it’s clearly making an investment in reaching YouTube’s ever-growing TV audience.

As for YouTube itself, it brought in $31.5 billion in ad revenue in 2023, and is no doubt looking to grow that number with pause ads. It might also be looking to snatch some ad dollars from other services that offer pause ads, like the aforementioned Hulu, Peacock, and Max. We’re not sure how much audience targeting those streamers offer marketers, but what we can say is that YouTube’s targeting is effectively the best in the digital business.

For now, Dunkin’ is the only brand showing up, but once more companies get on board, YouTube will be able to offer them the sort of precise interest- and location-based targeting it offers for other ad formats, and might prove to be even more of a competitor for streaming services.

Tom Trudeau, Director of Innovation Partnerships for IPG Media Lab, tells us he thinks YouTube may have to put in some work to get brands to embrace the new format–but once they do, they’ll see benefits.

“Inertia is a powerful force in life and in marketing, so it could take time for brands to embrace novel ad units on CTV. The onus will be on YouTube to reorient marketers that a) it is no longer just a force on mobile devices, but rather the dominant platform on families’ biggest screens, and b) can deliver improved performance on key KPIs enough to reallocate media dollars,” he says. “Through its scale, infrastructure, and relationships, Google is uniquely equipped to accelerate adoption compared to other innovative ad units on connected devices as well as SVOD and AVOD platforms.”

Either way, non-Premium YouTube users can expect to see more pause-vertising over the next few months–and more ads in general. YouTube (which has spent the last while telling people to stop using ad-blockers so it can make money) is also gearing up to introduce 30-second unskippable ads on TVs.