Hulu has struck the sweet spot between legally licensing network TV content and creating an aesthetically pleasing website with embedded TV shows, movies, trailers and other video content. The website always had ads placed in between video segments about 10min or so apart. I never found it obtrusive and in fact the ads were far shorter than on TV. The screenshot shows the logo of the advertising company on the bottom right corner. It’s barely noticeable and sits quietly without any pop ups or animations. Click on the picture to zoom in.

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If the viewer clicks on the ad then the video is instantly paused with an overlay message. The message says:

Video Paused – You may return to the video at any time.

The video will stay paused till you click Play on the video screen.

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Following this, the ad will start playing its own video. This is seen on the picture below. The top left of the screen will give updates in seconds how much longer the ad will play and let you know that you will be returned to the video after the ad. The ad also has a button on the top right with a link to return to the video instantly. Throughout the video the viewer has the ability to pause the ad or view it full screen.

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