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.
They’re running Android (Google) TV
No browser, likely app based (hence the TV)
You could theoretically run a PiHole, but I don’t believe that works too well on YouTube anymore. Especially considering the tight integration Google utilizes for their ad services with their non-paid services.
Google TV can run the vastly superior Smarttube app, no ads, double the framerate, much better experience.
I think Google just sent out a memo to all apps pulling the YouTube API to start showing ads or they’d slow their services and potentially stop them.
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