Pause ads

Pause ads are a TV ad experience initiated when the viewer uses a remote to pause the content being watched. The ad might overlay or replace the paused screen, and remains visible to the viewer as a embedded creative attribute. Viewers can interact with the paused screen using their remote or scan elements of the creative, such as a QR code.

Here's what you need to know about the paused ad experience:

• Pause ads appear after the viewer pauses with a 1-3 second delay.
• The ad stays visible until the viewer resumes playback.
• If the viewer stays paused for a long time, the ad may refresh after a set interval.

Creative guidelines

Creative specifications are designed specifically in the context of a paused screen. The pause ad format supports static ad creatives within a fixed size and dimension. Follow best practices by including the following creative properties:

Click-throughs

Click-throughs are calls to action (CTAs) within a creative that fire when the user interacts with the ad. These are generally supported on desktop and mobile environments. On TV environments, click-throughs support depends on publisher capabilities. If your creative contains click-throughs, we recommended that you adhere to these guidelines.

The following are additional best practices for working with click throughs.

• Express margins as a percentage it applies across mutiple resolutions.
• Respect the zones of the canvas, such as the safe zone and the buffer zone.
• Certain types of click-throughs or CTAs have additional guidelines, such as QR codes.

For details on click-throughs, see the Glossary.

Safe Zone

The safe zone is where click-throughs can be placed within the canvas. These zones vary depending on whether it contains logos, text, or backgrounds. The following table lists the safe zone for graphics and content.

Buffer Zone

The buffer zone is a general guideline for where other elements are to reduce overlap. Keep click-throughs away from clashing with built-in interactive elements, such as player controls, timers, or badges. Leave a 10% buffer zone from the top corners and sides of the canvas and a 15% buffer zone on the bottom of image assets. The following table lists zones reserved to maximize viewability and limit clashes with other elements.

QR code

QR codes that are embedded into the main image asset are generally accepted as long as they follow common best practices.

IMPORTANT: QR codes as standalone assets sent separately in VAST are not supported at this time.

Follow these additional guidelines for embedded QR codes:

• Use at minimum a 250x250 size for couch-distance scanning.
• Place the QR code only inside the content-safe inner zone.
• Embedded QR codes must stay within a 250x250 region outside of the buffer zone.

Pause ads format

Pause ads support non-linear VAST ad creatives that are either a full screen takeover or partial screen overlay. These signals use fields and values from Ad format signals. The following table lists the properties of a pause ad and relevant signals.

The following sections contain examples for the bid request, bid response, and VAST XML. For details, see the CTV Ad Format Signaling Proposal by the IAB.

Bid request example

The following is an example bid request for pause ads in a CTV app environment. Prior to this request, a viewer is watching an NFL Sunday Night Football live broadcast in the ZYX streaming app on an LG webOS smart TV and hits pause. The imp.video object is used to represent the ad slot of the paused video at a fullscreen resolution (1920×1080), with mimes restricted to image/jpeg and image/png to signal that only static image creatives are eligible.

{
  "id": "br-pause-001",
  "at": 1,
  "imp": [
    {
      "id": "imp-1",
      "video": {
        "linearity": 2,
        "plcmt": 5,
        "pos": 7,
        "playbackmethod": [9],
        "mimes": ["image/jpeg", "image/png"],
        "battr": [23],
        "skip": 0,
        "w": 1920,
        "h": 1080,
        "minduration": 30,
        "maxduration": 30,
        "protocols": [7, 8]
      },
      "bidfloor": 15.00,
      "bidfloorcur": "USD",
      "pmp": {
        "private_auction": 0,
        "deals": [
          {
            "id": "pmp-deal-001",
            "bidfloor": 10,
            "wseat": [],
            "at": 1
          }
        ]
      },
      "secure": 1,
      "exp": 300
    }
  ],
  "app": {
    "bundle": "com.zyx.streamingapp",
    "name": "ZYX",
    "publisher": {
      "id": "pub-zyxu-001",
      "name": "ZYXUniversal"
    },
    "content": {
      "id": "content-12345",
      "title": "NFL Sunday Night Football",
      "livestream": 1,
      "cat": ["IAB17-12"],
      "genres": [605],
      "gtax": 1
    }
  },
  "device": {
    "ua": "Mozilla/5.0 (SMART-TV; LG; webOS/6.0)",
    "devicetype": 3,
    "ifa": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
    "ifa_type": "idfa",
    "lmt": 0,
    "w": 1920,
    "h": 1080
  },
  "user": {
    "eids": [
      {
        "source": "uidapi.com",
        "inserter": "publisher.com",
        "mm": 3,
        "uids": [
          {
            "id": "AgAAAAVacu1uAxgAxH+HJ8+Cl2rUTIAKPe98eZQ...",
            "atype": 3,
            "ext": {
              "rtiPartner": "UID2"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "regs": {
    "ext": { "us_privacy": "1YNN" }
  }
}

See also Dynamic podded bid request example.

Bid response example

The following is an example bid response to a pause ad request for a video creative. The DSP wins the auction and delivers a pause ad in the VAST payload of the adm field shown in the non-linear VAST XML example.

IMPORTANT: Pause ads are not supported on VAST 2. Accepted protocols are VAST 3.x and 4.x.

{
  "id": "br-pause-001",
  "seatbid": [
    {
      "seat": "seat-dsp-alpha",
      "bid": [
        {
          "id": "bid-cine-001",
          "dealid": "Deal1",
          "impid": "imp-1",
          "price": 22.50,
          "adm": "<VAST version=\"4.2\"><!-- Cinemagraph NonLinear VAST --></VAST>",
          "adid": "ad-brand-x-cine",
          "adomain": ["brand-x.com"],
          "crid": "cr-cinemagraph-001",
          "w": 1920,
          "h": 1080,
          "mtype": 2,
          "attr": [19, 22],
          "dur": 10,
          "burl": "https://dsp.example.com/billing?imp=${AUCTION_IMP_ID}&price=${AUCTION_PRICE}",
          "lurl": "https://dsp.example.com/loss?imp=${AUCTION_IMP_ID}&reason=${AUCTION_LOSS}"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "cur": "USD"
}

VAST XML example

The following is a non-linear VAST XML expression of a pause ad for the adm field in the bid response example. The XML tags represent a static image creative that's overlayed on the screen during a pause. When interacted with, it supports impression tracking and click-through events. For details on design, see Creative Guidelines.

<VAST version="4.2">
  <Ad id="pause-static-001">
    <InLine>
      <Creatives>
        <Creative>
          <NonLinearAds>
            <NonLinear width="1920" height="1080" scalable="true" maintainAspectRatio="true">
              <StaticResource creativeType="image/jpeg">
                <![CDATA[https://cdn.example.com/pause/brand_x_1920x1080.jpg]]>
              </StaticResource>
              <NonLinearClickThrough>...</NonLinearClickThrough>
            </NonLinear>
            <TrackingEvents>
              <Tracking event="creativeView">...</Tracking>
              <Tracking event="overlayViewDuration">...</Tracking>
              <Tracking event="close">...</Tracking>
            </TrackingEvents>
          </NonLinearAds>
        </Creative>
      </Creatives>
      <Extensions>
        <Extension type="pos" ext="adcom"><pos>7</pos></Extension>
      </Extensions>
    </InLine>
  </Ad>
</VAST>

FAQs

The following are commonly asked questions about pause ads.

How are pause ads bought programmatically?

Pause ads are transacted through deals, such as Private Marketplace (PMP) deals and Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deals. These are equivalent to commitment and endeavor deals. For details, contact the Inventory Team.

Are blocked attributes enforced for pause ads?

No. Our bidder can receive blocked attributes from the bid request, but enforcement is pending. For details, contact the Inventory team.

Can pause ads include sound?

No. Sound is not supported at this time.

Can pause ads include video?

Yes. Pause ads support single-frame video and cinemagraphs. Cinemagraphs are muted videos with subtle motions.

Can pause ads be shown as a partial screen?

No. Partial screen is not supported at this time.