The Select ads will be available immediately, and the pilot for pause ads will start later in the 2023-2024 upfront year,

“We’re going to play with it and learn along with the brands, and then we’ll launch more definitive products to the marketplace,” Downey said.

Other publishers, like Hulu, have launched pause formats, though advertisers have had mixed reactions to their effectiveness.

“From a reach and brand awareness view, pause ads do an OK job, but not great,” said David Mirsky, Group Director at MMI Agency. “They are limited in brand storytelling opportunity but offer a valuable format that recognizable brands can use to cement themselves in a consumer’s minds.”

Mirsky added that pause ads could be more compelling with the addition of audio and other creative options.

Earlier this month at its presentation during NewFronts, YouTube also announced expansions in ad inventory, focused on Shorts, its short-form video product.