Key Takeaways
- Programmatic CTV Pause Ads outperformed traditional 60-second CTV spots across all 13 verticals studied, with significantly higher attention time.
- The findings suggest less disruptive ad formats can drive stronger viewer engagement and reshape how marketers evaluate CTV performance.
New benchmarks show Pause Ads outperform traditional CTV advertising across every category analyzed, delivering nearly 2X higher attention.
The study from WunderKIND Ads analyzed the impact of Pause Ads compared with traditional CTV spots that provides category benchmarks for the emerging ad format.
When broken out by category, Pause Ads outperformed traditional 60-second CTV spots across all 13 verticals analyzed. Automotive delivered the strongest results, generating 34.2 seconds of attention time versus 12.2 seconds for standard CTV video (+180.3%), followed by technology at 33.3 seconds versus 12.8 seconds (+160.2%) and restaurants at 34.0 seconds versus 13.5 seconds (+151.9%).
What the Findings of WunderKIND’s Survey Mean
Utilizing TVision attention data, the study analyzed millions of programmatic CTV impressions from WunderKIND Ads campaigns.
While acknowledging the benchmarks are based on their own campaigns, Adam Gendelman VP, Head of Sales, Supply & Operations at WunderKIND Ads, believes “the scale of the measurement analysis makes it incredibly valuable to the industry at large. We’re moving into the next phase of CTV advertising, where user-first formats are undoubtedly more effective than the historical foundation of interruptive fifteen- and thirty-second video spots.”
What Platforms Were Studied
The data spanned top verticals—including Auto, QSR, CPG, and Travel—and covered hundreds of premium publishers across DirecTV, Dish, Philo, Plex, and Tubi.
As the pioneer for delivering CTV Pause Ads programmatically, WunderKIND Ads’ product, developed in partnership with OpenGlass.TV, expands the company’s programmatic approach to CTV ads. These ads appear when viewers pause content, indicating that an ad at this point will not be perceived as disruptive.
“Attention is an important signal for understanding the quality of CTV ad experiences,” said Yan Liu, CEO of TVision. “This study utilizes TVision’s industry-leading, second-by-second attention data to better understand how viewers engage with Wunderkind’s custom pause ad formats.”
