YouTube on TVs is cramming ads down your throat even when pausing videos

If you watch YouTube on your smart TV and don’t have a YouTube Premium subscription, you might soon start seeing ads when you pause a video. YouTube first announced this “Pause ads” format back in May last year and briefly tested it in select markets. It now appears to be rolling out to more users.

User reports on Reddit and X (via 9to5Google) reveal that YouTube on smart TVs now shows ads when you pause a video. As shown in the images below, the video shrinks into a small window to the left and the ad shows up in a column on the right.

The ad column has a “Sponsored” label with the brand’s name and logo at the top, followed by the ad itself, a caption, and buttons to dismiss the ad or view more information. The ad automatically disappears when you resume playback, or you can remove it manually by using the Dismiss button.

For now, Dunkin’ Donuts seems to be the only advertiser, suggesting a limited rollout. However, given that YouTube has been testing this format for well over a year now, it may appear for more users with ads from other brands soon.

YouTube has been aggressively experimenting with new ways to display ads on the platform over the last year. In addition to the Pause ads format, the company is also exploring longer, unskippable ads and picture-in-picture ads for live videos.