Hulu, Max and Peacock are introducing a ‘pause ads’ feature – and I’m not a fan
It seems so long ago that one of the main reasons for switching to the best streaming services was to escape ads. Now they are part of the streaming landscape and becoming an even bigger part of it. Just after launching ad-supported tiers, streamers like Prime Video will reportedly start placing ads in premium subscribers’ feeds unless they pay extra.
And now there is also a new type of advertisement: the break advertisement. As the name suggests, it’s an ad that appears whenever you pause the movie or show (they reportedly don’t appear every time you pause either). It’s a type of advertising feature similar to what Netflix started testing in 2018 to recommend related shows or movies.
You may have also seen pause ads on Hulu, as they are increasingly becoming part of many streamers’ advertising toolkits. As diversity reportsthey’ve been appearing more frequently on Hulu since July, but they’ve been on Peacock since launch and on Max since 2022, so it seems inevitable that Netflix and Amazon will follow suit.
Why do streamers show pause ads?
The short answer is money, and the long answer is also money. The appeal to advertisers is that, while no one specifically wants to advertise, pause ads are less intrusive than other formats. When you pause a show or movie, the ad appears; pause it and it disappears again. And when you pause for a bathroom break or to stock up on Cheetos, your evening will hardly be interrupted as some auto-inserted ads on FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) channels often do.
But it’s a difficult line for streamers to walk, especially when it comes to customers paying for the service. Speaking to Variety, Kara Manatt of media and advertising group Magna said that “we found through research that this can actually change (customers) their behavior. They can even cancel their streaming service.”
The streamers are taking it easy for the time being. Warners won’t serve more than one intermission ad “per user per session,” says Variety, and other streamers are keen to ensure the ads are useful rather than irritating – though of course that’s a judgment call that will likely differ depending on whether you are now a streaming service employee or a streaming service subscriber.
If you really prefer not to see break ads, there is a solution: violence and nudity. We don’t mean through you, but on the screen. For example, according to the report, Max “will not use pause ads when viewers are watching something for an adult audience” because advertisers don’t want to be associated with violence or nudity – so if you’re not streaming anything other than Naked attraction And From sunset to sunrise you should be fine.