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.

Example:

“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.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I can’t wait til YouTube fucks around and finds out.

    I got hobbies that are way more fun than ads.

    I’m addicted to their shit because it provides a constant stream of dopamine. You fuck that up with ads, I will break the addiction. Seamlessly. It won’t even be difficult to do if going back kicks me in the balls with ads. I’m gone. My guitar is right here. My home server is right here. My GitHub profile could use some TLC. I got a long Todo list.

    Do it. Go full enshitification.

    I’m actually kind of excited for it.

    • Mkengine@feddit.de
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      6 months ago

      This was me with Reddit, my worst days were 8 hours a day. Now I spent 30 mins per day at most on Lemmy.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Yeah, my first reaction to seeing the API changes on Reddit was actually more of a glee/relief response than upset/disappointed. It meant that its grip on me was going to be over once those changes went through. I was worried the protests might get them to back down because I hated it there but always knew that the easy dopamine was just an app away.

        Now I’m here though. I don’t hate it here, at least not yet, but I haven’t freed up the time like I was hoping to.

    • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      While I share your sentiment, they’ve got a backdoor for exactly that scenario: Youtube Premium. We are addicted to the algorithm and a lot of us are willing to pay good money for their stream of dopamine. Of course Google will eventually mess up there too, but it could easily give them another decade of intense money milking.

        • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Neither do I, but that’s hardly the point. The house of cards you’re describing is reinforced with concrete steel. Unless you’re a creator with a massive audience, Youtube does not need you.

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        6 months ago

        I’d pay for a premium service if it meant that YouTube couldn’t profile me. I don’t really want to pay for it just so that they can reliably link financial data to the profile they build on me.

      • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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        6 months ago

        I pay for it. It gets rid of the ads when I need a video of how to do XYZ thing. It lets me watch channels that I care about without interruptions. The main thing for me though is when a friend or family member sends me a YouTube video, I don’t have to watch ads.

        It’s weird to me that folks are so hostile towards paying for things they use on the Internet. I mean, I get that venture capital fueled a seemingly endless “free lunch” of new services with small amounts of advertising… but it had to end at some point. It costs a lot of money to run a “YouTube.”

        • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          People are hostile towards it because Youtube generates enough revenue as is and becomes greedier by the day. People paying for it on top is only making things progressively worse. Free users will only get more and more ads shoved down their throat while premium users experience more and more price hikes. I‘m gonna keep blocking ads the traditional way for as long as I can because I do not see a fair alternative in the long run.

          My comment wasn‘t about defending Youtube or anything. The truth is the service can become much worse and still be more profitable so that’s what Youtube is working towards like every other service. Enshittification is at full swing. Google makes more money while creators continue to lose revenue. Things are becoming worse. Just not exactly the way it was described in the previous comment.

      • ripcord@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I use it all the time but I definitely don’t use the “algorithm”.

    • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      This right here. Cut off the dopamine with overly aggressive ads and I’m out. If they ever get it so ad blockers aren’t effective then hopefully we’ll see it die off.