Key Points
- Disney is expanding interactive ad formats on Disney Plus to boost engagement and grow streaming ad revenue.
- New formats like Gateway Go, Pause Ads and selectable ads are designed to integrate ads into viewing experiences without disrupting content playback.
- The initiative is powered by Disney eXperience Composer, enabling rapid development and deployment of interactive ad products across platforms.
Disney is broadening its portfolio of interactive advertising products on Disney Plus as the company seeks to grow streaming ad revenue while minimizing disruption to the viewing experience.
The media company said its latest advertising initiatives are being powered by Disney eXperience Composer (DXC), an in-house technology platform that allows Disney to develop, test and deploy new ad formats across its streaming services.
One of the earliest products developed through DXC was Gateway Go, which launched on Disney Plus early last year. The format enables viewers to interact with promotions using QR codes, email links and push notifications delivered to connected devices. According to Disney, the product generated engagement rates that exceeded industry benchmarks by more than 60 percent.
The company expanded its interactive advertising strategy later that year with the launch of Pause Ads, which display branded messages when viewers pause a program rather than interrupting content during playback.
Disney subsequently introduced Pause Plus (stylized as Pause+), an enhanced version of the format that incorporates interactive elements such as trivia, branded billboards and content carousels. The company said beta testing produced strong results: Pause Plus Trivia generated brand recall levels ten times higher than industry benchmarks, while its billboard format delivered double-digit gains in message association and unaided brand awareness.
The newest addition to Disney’s advertising lineup is Ad Selector, which allows viewers to choose which version of an advertisement they want to watch. Disney said the format has produced the highest engagement rates of any product developed through the DXC platform to date.
The advertising products are available across Disney Plus’ ad-supported tier and can be paired with content spanning entertainment, sports, news and the company’s major franchises.
Alex Combs, the Vice President of Product Management for Ad Platforms at Disney Entertainment and ESPN, said rapid iteration has been a key component of the program’s development.
“Each release informed the next, enabling teams to achieve parity across platforms and scale rapidly while maintaining high creative and performance standards,” Combs said in a statement on Monday.
The expansion comes as major streaming companies place greater emphasis on advertising-supported services: Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) have all increased investments in ad-supported streaming products as subscriber growth moderates and marketers continue shifting spending toward connected television.
Rather than relying solely on conventional commercial pods, Disney’s strategy focuses on creating advertising experiences that encourage interaction or appear during natural pauses in viewing. The approach is intended to improve engagement while reducing the perception that advertising interrupts programming, Disney said.
