YouTube Reportedly Rolling Out ‘Pause Ads’ Widely After Strong Advertiser Response

YouTube first announced plans to show ads on the pause screen in May 2023.

• Many users have reported seeing pause screen ads on YouTube
• These pause ads appear as pop-up ads and can be static or animated
• Last year, YouTube introduced unskippable ads.

YouTube is reportedly rolling out pause ads widely to users and advertisers. Last year, the video streaming giant first announced its plans to show these ads that appear when a video is paused. Many netizens have reported seeing these ads, expressing concerns over this move. These appear as a pop-up ad and can either be a static image or a short looping video. YouTube reportedly went ahead with its plans to roll out these ads after witnessing a strong response from advertisers and users.

YouTube Reportedly Rolling Out Pause Ads Widely

Pause ads, or ads that appear when a video has been paused, are being spotted increasingly by users. Many have taken to social media platforms such as Reddit and Twitter to post about the new developments on the video streaming platform.

These ads are separate from the ones YouTube usually shows at the beginning and in between videos. These will appear whenever a user pauses a video. And unlike a full video ad, these are pop-up style ads that only occupy a part of the screen. Based on the examples seen by Gadgets 360 staff members on social media, these ads appear on the right side of the video interface on the web and over the comment section in the mobile app.

Also, unlike the unskippable ads on the platform, which were introduced in 2023, these ads can be removed by tapping the ‘X’ icon placed on the top right of the ads. The sudden appearance of these ads is not a coincidence, however.

YouTube comms manager Oluwa Falodun told The Verge that the company has made the decision to widely roll out pause ads after noticing “both strong advertiser and strong viewer response”.

The company reportedly said that the pause ads are designed to offer users a “less interruptive” experience. However, it did not mention if normal ads will appear less frequently after implementing these pop-up ads.

Despite the move to show pause ads does not appear to be popular among users, it is not the first streaming platform to implement this. Many over-the-top platforms such as Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, and Zee5 show ads on the pause screen on the free tier and less expensive subscription tiers.