First, YouTube subjugated viewers to longer unskippable ads. Now, not even pausing your screen will be an escape from them.

Google is bringing more ads to YouTube, as you'll see them when you pause video playback - here's why that's not a bad idea.

Now, YouTube confirms advertisers can broadly target your paused screentime: “As we’ve seen both strong advertiser and strong viewer response, we’ve since widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers,” YouTube comms manager Oluwa Falodun confirms to The Verge.

Google has found another way to turn your eyeballs into money: by turning paused YouTube videos into a new real estate for ads. A YouTube communications manager told The Verge they’ve seen “strong advertiser and strong reviewer responses” since they “rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers.

Almost no corner of the YouTube experience is devoid of ads. They'll now appear when users take breaks from watching content on the video-centric site.

Some make specific reference to the fact that they are showing next to a paused video – as with one from Dunkin’ Donuts that said “this show might be paused, but your hunger isn’t”. YouTube has long been warning that it is considering showing ads when videos are paused.