Disney+ Boosts Interactive Advertising Opportunities

Disney has been hard at work expanding its interactive advertising options on Disney+ to create new revenue streams while keeping viewers engaged. The company’s advertising technology has made big strides thanks to their in-house Disney eXperience Composer (DXC) platform, which allows for quick development, testing, and deployment of new ad formats.

The first new format, Gateway Go, launched in April 2025. It lets viewers respond to offers and promotions through QR codes, email links, or push notifications. And guess what? Engagement rates were more than 60% higher than industry benchmarks—pretty impressive!

Then, in October 2025, Pause Ads were introduced. These display brand messages when viewers pause content, rather than interrupting programs with traditional commercial breaks. And they didn’t stop there. Disney later expanded this format with Pause+, adding interactive elements like billboards, trivia features, and content carousels to keep viewers engaged and provide advertisers with more storytelling opportunities.

Feedback from beta testing was super positive, with Pause+ Trivia generating brand recall levels ten times higher than industry benchmarks, and the Billboard format delivering double-digit improvements in message association and brand awareness without any prompting.

The newest format on the block is Ad Selector, which launched earlier this year. This format gives viewers the power to choose which advertising creative they want to watch, putting them in control of their experience. According to Disney, this format has been the biggest hit of all the DXC products launched so far, with the highest engagement rates.

These ad products are now available on Disney+’s expanding advertising-supported service, and they can be used across a wide range of content including entertainment, franchises, sports, and news. Alex Combs, Vice President of Product Management for Ad Platforms at Disney Entertainment and ESPN, noted that the quick deployment of these new formats has been crucial to their success, with each release informing the next and allowing for rapid scaling while maintaining high creative and performance standards.

Disney’s focus on interactive formats that appear during natural viewing pauses or give viewers more choice is a smart move as streaming services look for new ways to increase advertising revenue. By prioritizing engagement over interruption, Disney is leading the pack in creating innovative alternatives to traditional TV commercial breaks.