YouTube's pause ads: Will 'pause-vertising' cause more ad fatigue?

Advertisers can now target your paused videos on video sharing platform YouTube with the launch of 'pause ads'. The platform confirmed to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE when it reached out that it has widely rolled out pause ads to all advertisers.

YouTube has seen "strong advertiser and strong viewer response" since it has rolled out pause ads to all advertisers, it said.

Don't miss: YouTube is now rolling out ads when you pause a video

YouTube told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it began testing pause ads in 2023 with some advertisers and they ended up being quite popular. 

According to Basil Chua, managing partner at Multiverse Partners, YouTube's introduction of "pause ads" represents an evolutionary innovation in digital advertising.

"By capitalising on natural user behaviour—pausing a video—this format allows marketers to deliver high-impact, high-viewability advertisements to audiences in the first few moments when they're momentarily disengaged from the video, potentially increasing ad attention and recall. It's a clever way to utilise idle screen time without disrupting the viewing experience," he said. 

He added that marketers should try to design visually engaging pause ads to take full advantage of this feature. Since pause ads are static displays, compelling visuals and concise messaging are crucial to grabbing attention quickly, he explained, adding:

Marketers must, ideally, ensure relevance by aligning the advertisement with the context of the video content or the user's interests to enhance engagement.

Chua added that on the other hand, if not implemented thoughtfully, pause ads could contribute to ad fatigue and “cringes”.

"To mitigate this, consider frequency capping and ensuring that ads are appropriate and relevant," he said, adding that as long as the advertisement formats are well thought through and preserve the user experience, nothing stops these platforms from pushing the boundary of innovative ad formats.

Agreeing with him, Shufen Goh, principal and co-founder of R3, explained that pause ads have been employed by various video and audio platforms over the past few years as an effective means to monetise consumer attention during moments of interaction.

"While consumers often experience ad fatigue, they generally understand the trade-off between accepting advertisements and accessing free content. In fact, they would appreciate efforts to make this trade-off less intrusive," she said. 

True enough, according to a 2023 study by the School of Business at Nanjing University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, it has been reported that the average American is exposed to a range of 4000 to 10,000 advertisements in a single day. However, due to the limited cognitive capacity of consumers, they are susceptible to fatigue, boredom, and irritation when exposed to an excessive amount of advertising. 

However, according to Goh, more concerning than ad fatigue is ad annoyance - the irritation that arises when ads are carelessly placed at random moments, disrupting the user's engagement with the content.

"Pause Ads offer a solution to this issue," she said. "By appearing when users choose to interact with the platform, these ads capture the advertiser's desired attention without the negative feelings associated with mid-roll interruptions."

Goh added that this approach is far preferable to waiting through mandatory five-second ads to see the end of a scene or throwing things at the screen when it's your turn for a non-skippable ad.

An 'elevator pitch' for ads

Adding to her point, Melissa Yik, country director at M&C Saatchi Performance, said that this new approach introduces an ad type that relies on viewer-initiated action, unlike traditional pre-roll or in-stream ads.

"It's comparable to an 'elevator pitch' for advertisements. Brands have a brief moment to convey their message before the viewer returns to their original task that prompted them to pause the video," she said, adding:

With the right targeting and message, the ad could potentially drive higher ad recall and engagement.

Yik also said that this gives marketers more options to expand beyond running only video-heavy formats on YouTube, which can cost more money and time to produce, while still utilising its robust targeting features.

"The answer lies in being able to creatively execute this unique space, rather than adopting a blanket approach of showing a standard ad message that is used across all platforms. There is more room for creativity by considering the mindset and situations the viewer could potentially be in and how it can connect to your brand," she said. 

Considering your brand category 

While pause ads do seem to have significant potential, marketers need to also take stock of their brand category and see if pause ads suit them, according to Don Anderson, CEO of Kaddadle Consultancy.

"This format may suit some brand categories more than others depending on individual brand sensitivity thresholds," he explained. "For example, consumers may be more adaptable to FMCG, healthcare, retail or entertainment brands versus banking or insurance advertisers. It may be better suited to timed offers or certain consumer staples or services that drive response, as opposed to general brand awareness messages," he said.

He added that marketers will need to weigh this carefully, including the appropriateness of the brands they represent for this type of ad unit and how they are presented alongside specific content, the context of the marketing communication and frequency.

"This might not suit all brand categories – they’ll want to press YouTube for clear data points that illustrate impact and value of such ad placements including individual brand suitability case studies and consider launching independent consumer surveys to gauge effectiveness and recall, and brand sentiment impact," he said. 

Anderson added that pause ads may also provide advertisers the opportunity to engage viewers in the moment, depending of course on the content they are consuming at that moment.

"I could see this working well with lifestyle and sports content, but may not suit more serious, learning oriented content," said Anderson. "Marketers will also want to get a sense from YouTube of the options for placement on different surfaces, such as smart TVs versus mobile, as the user experience and reception will be different for both given the ‘lean back’ and ‘lean forward’ orientation of each, respectively. YouTube and Google are all about consumer data – marketers would be well advised to mine that at every turn."

Anderson added that YouTube is becoming today’s version of TV or cable, and that the proliferation of advertising in traditional broadcasts is nothing new – particularly in live sports – so you would expect that in time users will simply become accustomed to “pause-vertising.”

"YouTube can argue that as a viewer you’re still getting access to the world’s largest collection of video content for free, which you are. And you always have a choice to ditch the ads and subscribe to its YouTube Premium service, which users are opting to do with greater frequency. Viewers always have a choice, they just need to decide whether they are willing to pay for that choice," he said. 

Is 'pause-vertising' the future?

He also argued that YouTube’s adoption of “pause-vertising” is just the beginning for the streaming industry.

"We’re already seeing similar formats across US-streamers Hulu and services such as Sling TV. Unless YouTube faces widespread user and creator backlash and it impacts viewer retention, there’s no going back," he said.

Anderson added that traditional TV broadcasting has, over the years, diversified its ad inventory and placements particularly in live events by including midstream ad messaging and full or mid-screen takeovers that appear for a few seconds during the program.

"Given the free-to-air nature, viewers have simply come to expect and accept this, and the same is likely to occur with YouTube’s new formats, particularly as YouTube becomes more like TV itself," he explained. 

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