Hulu's New 'Pause Ad' Experience Coming Q2 2019, Will Not Play Audio/Video Every Time You Pause

[MacRumors]

Last month, Hulu began talking about a new form of advertising it had in the works that it called "pause ads." At the time, the company said it tested numerous versions of the format, but they all boiled down to showing subscribers some form of advertising every time they hit pause on a video in Hulu.

The final version of pause ads has now been decided, and they'll begin rolling out in the second quarter of 2019. When they do, pause ads will not play video or audio when you pause a show or movie in Hulu, but instead they will showcase static images with taglines from various brands.

Just as consumers' viewing habits have evolved, their expectations for advertising have also changed. Viewers no longer accept an irrelevant, intrusive ad experience and appreciate when brands tell their stories in authentic and integrated ways. To stand out and continue engaging their target audiences, brands must rise to the challenge and flex their creative muscles to go beyond the traditional commercial break.

Enter Hulu's new Pause Ad, which provides a non-intrusive, viewer-initiated ad experience that is both delighting to viewers and effective for brands.

Hulu says pause ads will be "contextually relevant" and have background gradients that change to distinguish the ad from the paused scene. The company calls the ads "non-disruptive", and the final form was decided upon after extensive user testing found that consumers preferred ads that don't play extensive audio and video when pausing movies and TV shows.

The first two brands to debut with pause ads will be Charmin and Coca-Cola. When pause ads roll out they will appear within "select content" in Hulu's streaming library, presumably for those subscribed to Hulu With Limited Commercials. In today's press release, an example of a pause ad is shown in the Hulu Original show Marvel's Runaways, so it appears that even Hulu's own original content will have the new ads.

Article Link: Hulu's New 'Pause Ad' Experience Coming Q2 2019, Will Not Play Audio/Video Every Time You Pause

 

[Ellis.adam]

So when I want to pause a TV show because I get a phone call and can’t hear, now I’m going to get a loud commercial? Sounds great

 

[earthTOmitchel]

So when I want to pause a TV show because I get a phone call and can’t hear, now I’m going to get a loud commercial? Sounds great

"...pause ads will not play video or audio when you pause a show or movie in Hulu, but instead they will showcase static images with taglines from various brands."

 

[djeeyore25]

It's fitting that Hulu considers Charmin a "contextually relevant" sponsor for their offerings.

 

[keysofanxiety]

What an absolute crock. Ads aren't an experience or "delighting to viewers". They're an intrusion, however you try and spin it.

 

[dominiongamma]

What an absolute crock. Ads aren't an experience or "delighting to viewers". They're an intrusion, however you try and spin it.

Well people should pay to remove them, Hulu needs to make money somehow

 

[RobNYC]

Well people should pay to remove them, Hulu needs to make money somehow

Yeah, you have the option to pay for add free content on Hulu so the choice is yours.

This new thing doesn't bother me if this means that you use up the allotted ads in pause mode and reduce the ads when actually watching.

 

[nburwell]

I'm going to go under the assumption that those of us paying $12/month for the no ad Hulu plan will not see these "static ads?"

 

[MikeVarney]

So when I want to pause a TV show because I get a phone call and can’t hear, now I’m going to get a loud commercial? Sounds great

The title of the story, the image, AND the text of the story all contradict this. You're 0/3.

 

[12vElectronics]

Will these be shown to people who pay Hulu monthly?

 

[willmtaylor]

The title of the story, the image, AND the text of the story all contradict this. You're 0/3.

Batting 1000.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I'm not a Hulu fan by any means (I see it as legacy TV trying desperately to keep a toe-hold as the industry moves on) but my partner subscribes. Maybe this will end Hulu in our household entirely.

 

[sinsin07]

So when I want to pause a TV show because I get a phone call and can’t hear, now I’m going to get a loud commercial? Sounds great

It's OK to be the first post.
Not OK to get it wrong.

 

[lederermc]

Adverts are justified when you're not paying to watch like OTA. When you pay for Hulu and you pay for bandwidth the Adverts because an affront, and a good reason to watch another service such as Netflix or Amazon or HBO or Showtime or Starz etc.

 

[erinsarah]

I'm not a Hulu fan by any means (I see it as legacy TV trying desperately to keep a toe-hold as the industry moves on) but my partner subscribes. Maybe this will end Hulu in our household entirely.

I don't see much of an issue with it. Whether you're looking at a paused image of the show you're watching, or a picture of toilet paper, it shouldn't matter so long as you're not missing the show while you're waiting for your popcorn to microwave.

What I REALLY, REALLY wish Hulu, and others like it, would do is SELL MORE ADS. Seriously. These streaming apps each seem to have less than a dozen ads that they cycle through over and over and over again. I mean how many times can I see the same gaggle of hipsters walk into a room where they are amazed by the same lousy collection of Chevy SUVs hiding behind a wall? I get it...Chevy is swell. Move on.

 

[Spock]

What I REALLY, REALLY wish Hulu, and others like it, would do is SELL MORE ADS. Seriously. These streaming apps each seem to have less than a dozen ads that they cycle through over and over and over again. I mean how many times can I see the same gaggle of hipsters walk into a room where they are amazed by the same lousy collection of Chevy SUVs hiding behind a wall? I get it...Chevy is swell. Move on.

What you don’t know is this isn’t the new F-150 it’s the new Silverado! But really, a static ad when I pause is not a big deal, I’m going to do something away from my tv if I’m pausing it anyway. I wouldn’t even mind a static ad in the corner of the show if it meant no full on interruptions.

 

[ignatius345]

The company calls the ads "non-disruptive", and the final form was decided upon after extensive user testing found that consumers preferred ads that don't play extensive audio and video when pausing movies and TV shows.

For now. What do you want to bet they'll start pushing this boundary in the future to see what people will tolerate. Marketer parasites never, ever stop. All I'll say is, thank god there's an affordable ad-free option in Hulu.

 

[Lazy]

“extensive user testing found that consumers preferred ads that don't play extensive audio and video when pausing movies and TV shows.”

That’s pretty funny. I can’t imagine how the testing needed to be more extensive than blaring an ad at one test subject one time when they tried to pause and getting the response “What the F is this BS?” to figure out everyone would really hate that.

 

[C DM]

I don't see much of an issue with it. Whether you're looking at a paused image of the show you're watching, or a picture of toilet paper, it shouldn't matter so long as you're not missing the show while you're waiting for your popcorn to microwave.

What I REALLY, REALLY wish Hulu, and others like it, would do is SELL MORE ADS. Seriously. These streaming apps each seem to have less than a dozen ads that they cycle through over and over and over again. I mean how many times can I see the same gaggle of hipsters walk into a room where they are amazed by the same lousy collection of Chevy SUVs hiding behind a wall? I get it...Chevy is swell. Move on.

What you don’t know is this isn’t the new F-150 it’s the new Silverado! But really, a static ad when I pause is not a big deal, I’m going to do something away from my tv if I’m pausing it anyway. I wouldn’t even mind a static ad in the corner of the show if it meant no full on interruptions.

Unless part of the reason you are pausing is to look at something on the screen, which might now be covered up by an ad instead.

 

[AngerDanger]

Hulu says pause ads will be "contextually relevant"

The ad shown in the image isn't contextual enough! I won't be happy until advertisers' products are intelligently added into the scene every time I pause my shows!

Much better!

 

[itr81]

Just another reason not to use Hulu. They must be hurting for money

 

[827538]

Between adblockers, ditching live TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime I haven’t viewed adverts in years.

I’ll never subscribe to Hulu. I still can’t wrap my head around how so many of us paid for advertising (cable/satellite) for so long. Especially as you can just put up an antenna for free and get HD quality broadcasts.

Still, the future is commercial free in my opinion. As soon as Netflix or Amazon pushes commercials I’ll drop them instantly and go back to getting free trials.

 

[C DM]

Between adblockers, ditching live TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime I haven’t viewed adverts in years.

I’ll never subscribe to Hulu. I still can’t wrap my head around how so many of us paid for advertising (cable/satellite) for so long. Especially as you can just put up an antenna for free and get HD quality broadcasts.

Still, the future is commercial free in my opinion. As soon as Netflix or Amazon pushes commercials I’ll drop them instantly and go back to getting free trials.

HD quality broadcasts haven't been around for that long, but even that aside, with an antenna you are basically limited to a few local channels and that's really it--certainly might be enough for some, but nowhere close to what many others might like to watch.

 

[imola.zhp]

As much as I hate advertising, I really really hate it, this is pretty genius of whoever came up with it. I hope they were well compensated for the idea.

As others have stated, for those of us paying for commercial-free Hulu, this will be a deal breaker if it shows up on my screen.

 

[linkmaster02]

As much as I hate advertising, I really really hate it, this is pretty genius of whoever came up with it. I hope they were well compensated for the idea.

As others have stated, for those of us paying for commercial-free Hulu, this will be a deal breaker if it shows up on my screen.

Thank the porn industry. They've been doing this for years!