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.
So many people in this comment section are pissed that YouTube isn't both free and ad-free. It's mind blowing.
Yes, YouTube is a business and exists to generate revenue.
i'd get it if people were complaining about ads being added to paid subscriptions. i cancelled my prime subscription for exactly that reason.
But people whinging about having to watch ads on a service they're not paying for has always struck me as weird
Yeah, completely agree. But this is also Lemmy. The majority of users are either a communist or almost a communist. And usually have a pretty bad understanding of what that even entails. Generally they just want everything to be free or paid for by someone else.
I was 97% communist at the last measurement. I think I will get the final 3% any day now, God willing.