YouTube will now show ads whenever you pause a video

Soon you won't be able to escape ads when on YouTube, unless you pay for Premium

(Credit: YouTube)

• 🆕 YouTube has a new way to serve you ads

• 😅 Ads have started to appear on the pause screen on desktop and mobile

• 📆 Google started testing the feature in 2023

• 😡 Some users aren’t happy, but it’s hardly a surprise as more companies have started to fall back on ads

Google is determined to maximize its ad revenue on YouTube and it seems the search engine giant has found another way to extract more money from viewers.

You’ll now see ads on paused YouTube videos, which Google started testing in 2023. YouTube comms manager Oluwa Falodun told The Verge, “As we’ve seen both strong advertiser and strong viewer response, we’ve since widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers.”

The ads show up when using YouTube on the desktop and also when using the YouTube mobile app. You’d think it’s only a matter of time, then, before they also come to the TV app.

YouTube isn’t the only company to experiment with pause ads. Hulu, AT&T, and Sling TV also introduced pause ads in July, though you could turn them off.

We’ve also seen streamers such as Netflix, Disney+, and more recently Amazon introduce unskippable ads as companies try to scramble more revenue from those who aren’t willing to pay more for an ad-free experience.

Google continues to push more users to YouTube Premium, which offers ad-free viewing and other welcomed perks for $13.99 a month. Personally, I think it’s one of the better subscription services out there and I canceled Spotify for YouTube Premium as a result.

• Up next: YouTube quietly announces a big change that sucks for creators

Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.