YouTube first spoke about pause ads last year when it started trialing them in select regions. At the time, the company said that when you pause a video, it will shrink, and an ad will appear next to it.
“In Q1, 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,” Schindler noted. He went on to share that YouTube’s pause ads are “driving strong brand lift results” and “are commanding premium pricing from advertisers.”
Schindler didn’t share any timelines for when pause ads will start appearing on YouTube, but we know they’ll first roll out on smart TVs. The nature of these ads, including their duration, skippability, and more is still unclear. We also don’t know if Google plans to introduce these ads on YouTube’s mobile apps.
Hadn't they blocked the ad blockers?
ublock origin users barely noticed. you just have to update filters every now and then.
And if you have the knowledge or savvy to use a network wide solution like pihole, I haven't seen an ad in over a year. It's not a perfect solution cuz I haven't figured out how to filter ads on Mobile. But I've accepted that I just watch YouTube on my laptop or desktop.
You can use Revanced for example. Alphabet is trying to fuck that up too, but it's still going strong. Plus, a revanced YouTube is a lot better than the regular app. Want to get rid of Shorts? Revanced will let you get rid of those shitty videos for good. Hate sponsor messages in Videos? Revanced will let you integrated sponsorblock.
The day that revanced won't work anymore is the day I'll stop using YouTube.