YouTube has officially confirmed the rollout of pause screen ads to all advertisers, ending a trial that began in 2023. This comes six years after the first warnings about the possibility and a year and a half after Google discovered the format was highly profitable.
Image source: EyestetixStudio / Pixabay
The process of introducing paused ads has been gradual and methodical. As early as 2018, the first warnings about the potential use of YouTube’s pause screen for advertising appeared. As early as April 2023, Google officially announced plans to introduce the feature on YouTube and initiated a pilot project, granting access to a limited number of advertisers.
A year later, Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, confirmed that the new format had proven extremely profitable for the company, and now those plans have been fully realized. Oluwa Falodun, YouTube’s communications manager, said: “Given the strong positive response from both advertisers and viewers, we have rolled out ad pause broadly to all advertisers.”
Image source: Pale_Baker3255 / Reddit
YouTube users have been quick to react to the changes. Last week, multiple reports surfaced on Reddit about a noticeable increase in the frequency of YouTube pause screen ads. The video hosting site markets pause screen ads as “less intrusive.” However, the company has not announced a possible reduction in the frequency of standard ads. It’s important to note that YouTube already introduced unskippable ads in 2023, and has also experimented with longer, less frequent ads.
YouTube isn’t a pioneer in using the pause screen for ads. Hulu and AT&T have long used the practice. Streaming service Sling TV introduced pause screen ads back in July of this year, but gave users the option to turn them off in their settings. YouTube, for its part, hasn’t made such a choice known, which could cause further frustration among users.
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Source: 3dnews.ru
