Hulu will introduce pause-activated ads later this year

Just after lowering the price of their ad-supported subscription to compete with Netflix, Hulu will soon be introducing more ads. This new ad strategy will activate when viewers pause a show or movie. Luckily, these ads seem non-disruptive, as they will not appear in video-form. Instead, they will show up as translucent pop-ups on the viewing screen.

According to TechCrunch, the ads will appear like a typical drive-by billboard on the right side of the screen. The ad will only appear after a few seconds of pausing your chosen content. This time delay will allow users to pause, rewind or fast-forward as normal.

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Additionally, ads will also not appear on episodes rated TV-MA to avoid awkward and potentially sexually-explicit ad placement. That said, companies will also be able to opt out of certain genres.

While Hulu subscribers are typically used to seeing video ads, Vice President Jeremy Helfand says that using those kinds of ads immediately upon a viewer pausing content would be disturbing. Additionally, Helfand says that many viewers get up and do other things while ads are playing, thus rendering them pretty useless for companies.

“It can be jarring — you think you’ve paused the content, but you’re still seeing sight, sound and motion,” Helfand says in a story with TechCrunch. As for the advertiser, they don’t want to create a 30-second ad that the viewer doesn’t see because they’ve left for the kitchen or the bathroom, or because they unpause the show five seconds into the ad.”

Check out what the ads will look like below.

According to TechCrunch, the streaming service will introduce the Hulu Pause Ad sometime during the second quarter of the year.

What do you think about Hulu implementing ads while you pause a show? Sound off int eh comments below.

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