Fiskars, the Finnish garden tool company, wants to run pause ads on connected TV. The format is perfect for their new electric-powered product line: high attention, non-interruptive, and ideal for building awareness among homeowners who pause streaming content to grab a snack or answer the door. But as AdExchanger reported yesterday, Fiskars hasn't actually purchased any pause ads yet. The reason is instructive for every CMO trying to allocate CTV budgets this quarter: the format's performance metrics are exceptional, but the buying infrastructure remains fragmented.
This is the pause ad paradox of mid-2026. The attention economics are compelling. Research from TripleLift shows 100% viewability (every participant in eye-tracking studies looked at the pause ad), 24-second average dwell time, 91% aided brand recall, and 98% message recall. MNTN reports that 51% of viewers take some form of action after seeing a pause ad, from scanning QR codes to visiting websites. Fubo's internal data shows pause ads drive 33% more brand engagement than video ads alone.
Yet most advertisers who want pause ads still buy them through direct deals with individual publishers, one at a time, with custom creative specs for each platform. The programmatic pipes that would let a brand like Fiskars run pause ads across multiple streamers with consistent targeting, measurement, and creative specs are only now being built.
The Standards Gap
The core problem is that every streaming platform implemented pause ads differently. Hulu pioneered the format in 2019, but what followed was a proliferation of proprietary specs. Some publishers built native pause ad implementations; others preferred VAST (video ad serving template). Creative dimensions varied. Interaction models differed. There was no standardized way to signal pause ad inventory in programmatic bid requests, which meant demand-side platforms couldn't recognize and bid on pause ads the same way they bid on pre-roll or mid-roll.
IAB Tech Lab began addressing this in December 2025 with its CTV Ad Portfolio, which defined six core CTV ad formats including pause ads. The organization collected over 100 real-world format submissions through its Ad Format Hero initiative and distilled them into standardized definitions. The updated guidance includes OpenRTB support for pause and menu ads, specifying how these formats should be signaled in programmatic bid requests.
In May 2026, IAB Tech Lab released the signaling specifications that enable programmatic trading of these formats. The public comment period closed in early June, and the updates are expected to roll out later this month.
Standard formats are only part of the equation. You need a clear way to signal what is actually being bought and sold.
Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab
The Interim Solutions
While waiting for industry-wide standards, programmatic platforms have been building their own bridges. Fubo launched programmatic pause ads in May 2025 through Magnite's ClearLine self-service buying solution, supporting both programmatic guaranteed and biddable private marketplace executions. PubMatic partnered with dentsu in October 2025 to deploy pause ad campaigns across its premium CTV inventory, with the agency's first campaign promoting a film release through DirecTV pause ads.
The Trade Desk added pause ad activation to its Kokai platform, allowing buyers to manage pause ad inventory using the same tools they use across other channels. FreeWheel teamed up with several DSPs to differentiate pause ad inventory from standard commercial spots in the bidstream.
But friction remains. As AdExchanger noted, publishers are at different stages of development. Some built native specs; others prefer VAST. And from a publisher perspective, there's still no unified way to integrate demand across multiple buyers. Jerrold Son, VP of advertising revenue operations at Xumo, told AdExchanger that the lack of demand integration remains a barrier.
The Math for Marketing Leaders
For CMOs evaluating pause ads, the unit economics deserve scrutiny. Standard CTV CPMs range from $25 to $65 for premium inventory, though self-serve platforms like Paramount Ads Manager offer entry points as low as $7 CPM. Pause ads typically command premium pricing given their attention metrics, but the exact CPM varies by publisher and deal structure.
The attention arbitrage is real. Magna and DirecTV research found that 81% of viewers pause content to avoid missing what they're watching, signaling active engagement. Most pauses last between one and five minutes, with 92% of viewers staying paused longer than 30 seconds. Compare that to a 15-second pre-roll where the viewer is waiting for content to resume.
The measurement question is where pause ads get interesting for finance-minded marketers. Unlike pre-roll or mid-roll, pause ads don't interrupt content, which means they don't trigger the same viewer resistance. But they also don't fit neatly into traditional video completion metrics. The format is closer to high-impact display than to video advertising, which requires adjusting how you model expected outcomes.
For brands focused on awareness and consideration, pause ads offer a rare combination: guaranteed viewability, extended exposure time, and positive viewer sentiment (over 60% of viewers prefer pause ads to a frozen black screen). For brands focused on direct response, the QR code integration creates a measurable path to action, though the conversion window is different from click-based digital formats.
What Changes When Standards Ship
Once IAB Tech Lab's signaling specifications are widely adopted, several things should improve. Agencies will be able to run pause ads across multiple streaming services through a single programmatic workflow, rather than negotiating separate direct deals. Creative production will simplify because standardized dimensions and safe zones mean one creative can render correctly across platforms. Measurement will become more consistent because standardized signals enable apples-to-apples comparison across publishers.
The timeline matters for Q3 and Q4 planning. IAB Tech Lab's CTV Ad Portfolio page indicates the signaling guidance is in a second round of public comment until , following feedback from the first round. Assuming the standards finalize on schedule, adoption will still take time as publishers and DSPs implement the specifications.
For brands like Fiskars that want programmatic flexibility, scale, and measurement before committing budget, the practical advice is to start with pilot campaigns through the platforms that already support programmatic pause ads (Fubo via Magnite, PubMatic's premium inventory, The Trade Desk's Kokai) while monitoring the standards rollout. Test creative approaches now, establish baseline metrics, and be ready to scale when the buying infrastructure catches up to the format's performance potential.
The pause ad opportunity is real. The programmatic infrastructure is arriving. The brands that run pilots this quarter will have the learning curve behind them when the rest of the market shows up.
