Hulu, the streaming platform that specializes in TV, and functions like a DVR for people without cable, is testing a new way for users to experience ads.
Hulu’s newest experiment, Pause Ad, “provides a non-intrusive, viewer-initiated ad experience that is both delighting to viewers and effective for brands,” per a statement on their website. The basic gist is that when a user is streaming something on Hulu, and then hits pause, an ad will appear on the pause screen and remain there until the program is resumed.
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The company has already tested the Pause Ad system with brands like Coca-Cola and Charmin, finding that “consumers generally preferred ads that were subtle and non-intrusive, and that extensive audio and video when pausing was considered disruptive. These insights led us to take our current approach to pause ads, and the research so far has shown a positive response from viewers.” They plan to fully integrate them by the second quarter of 2019, but only for “select content.”
It’ll be interesting to see how these “non-intrusive” ads go over with its overall subscriber base, as Hulu is generally faulted for being the only streaming service that charges a subscription and includes commercials on its cheapest tier. Whether or not this new method will appeal to users remains to be seen.
