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.
I pay for YouTube. I'm mildly optimistic that this won't make it into the paid version, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it does.
I've already had to cancel Amazon Prime after they made the base tier have ads, but continued to show ads after paying extra for ad-free.
It'll get there. They're boiling the frog. If you'll pay now to get rid of ads, you'll pay more to get rid of them when they show up, until you can't pay more and then you'll watch the ads.