Streaming video services and TV providers are always looking at ways to optimize and evolve advertising. Now, a new report from Variety details how and why both Hulu and AT&T plan to use start using new “pause ads” next year.
As binge watching on streaming platforms increases, Hulu and AT&T are both thinking that placing ads when users pause content could be the next step. Speaking to Variety, Hulu’s head of advertising platforms, Jeremy Gelfand, says the pause ads coming next year could be a good fit as they’ll come at a “natural break.”
Hulu intends to unveil what it calls “pause ads” in 2019. When a user chooses to stretch, or get a snack, he says, “it’s a natural break in the storytelling experience.”
AT&T is looking to use the same strategy, possibly with its DirecTV and U-verse platforms. Vice President at AT&T’s advertising division said:
“We know you’re going to capture 100% viewability when they pause and unpause,” says Matt Van Houten, vice president of product at Xandr Media, AT&T’s advertising division. “There’s a lot of value in that experience.”
AT&T also plans to launch these ads next year.
The company, which owns DirecTV and U-verse, expects to launch technology next year that puts a full-motion video on a screen when a user decides to take a respite.
Even though Hulu and AT&T are optimistic about pause ads, time will tell how consumers react. Earlier this year, Netflix started testing ads for its own content in-between episodes (normally an ad-free service) which created some swift backlash from viewers.
How about you? Are you open to the idea of pause ads popping up when you choose to take a break? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments