Technology

Imagine watching YouTube. Your kid, spouse, grandparent, whatever falls and gets badly hurt. You pause the video (out of habit, instead of shutting off the TV) to tend to them. You toss the remote as you rush off the couch, the remote is lost. Instead of silence so you can hear whether they're breathing and be able to hear and talk to the emergency services dispatcher, you hear an unskippable ad. They perish, because the dispatcher couldn't hear you and get the ambulance truck to your door in time.

Imagine watching YouTube. You're alone in your house. You hear something at the window behind you. You pause the video, since it's probably nothing, to listen more intently. Instead of silence to allow you hear the burglar, you hear an ad for something you would never buy, as the burglar breaks into your house and attacks you for that sweet, sweet PS5. You perish, because you couldn't react in time.

Edge cases? Maybe. Possible? Yes. Will YouTube/google be charged with accessory to murder? I highly doubt that.

Pause ads are a very bad, and very dangerous, idea.