YouTube Pause ad specs: 1080-1350 px image, 2 MB, 70-char headline

A YouTube Pause ad is a static image, not a video: Google's help page lists a PNG or JPG with width and height each between 1080 and 1350 pixels, a maximum file size of 2 MB, and a headline or tagline of at most 70 characters. The ad appears 10 seconds after a viewer pauses a video and stays until the viewer resumes or dismisses it.

That makes it an odd fit for a video tool, but the image is still something you can generate. Everything below about the format comes from Google's About YouTube Pause ads in Google Ads reservation campaigns page, read 2026-10-03. The Sume parts come from the Image API docs.

What are the creative specs for a Pause ad?

Google's page lists these creative requirements. It also tells you to avoid extreme aspect ratios, so treat the pixel window as a range, not a target to stretch to.

Where do Pause ads run, and how are they bought?

The page says Pause ads are available only on connected TV devices, in 39 supported countries, and are bought through Reservation inside YouTube Select lineups. That is a reserved-media purchase, not a self-serve auction campaign you can start from a single image upload.

The page also notes a measurement limit: first-party and third-party viewability measurement, and third-party brand suitability measurement, are not supported for Pause ads. If your reporting plan depends on those, say so to whoever sells the reservation before you commission creative.

How do I make a Pause ad image on Sume?

Sume's Image API takes model: "openai/gpt-image-2.5" and a custom image_size as WIDTHxHEIGHT. The docs say both edges must be multiples of 16, with a maximum edge of 3840, an aspect ratio of at most 3:1, and between 655,360 and 8,294,400 pixels. 1080 and 1350 are not multiples of 16, so you cannot request the usual 1080 x 1350 portrait directly.

The nearest sizes that sit inside Google's window are multiples of 16: for example 1088 x 1088 (square) or 1088 x 1344 (portrait). That is our own arithmetic against the two pages, not a size either page recommends, so check the result against the spec before you hand it over.

Ask for output_format of jpeg to keep the file small. Sume's docs say output_compression is in the schema but not served in v1, so you cannot tune JPEG quality through the API. If a render lands over 2 MB, re-export it in an image editor instead of regenerating.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-image-2.5",
    "prompt": "Clean product still on a plain backdrop, space left for a headline outside the image",
    "image_size": "1088x1344",
    "output_format": "jpeg"
  }'

What does Sume not do for Pause ads?

Be clear about the boundary so nothing is assumed:

• Sume does not buy or reserve YouTube Select inventory, and it has no Pause ad endpoint.
• The 70-character headline is entered where you set up the ad, not in the image, so write it separately and count it.
• Sume does not promise an output file size, so check the 2 MB limit on the file you actually have.
• Google decides which Pause creative to show and where; Sume only supplies the still.

Should the Pause image match the video ad?

A Pause image is seen at rest, on a TV, by someone who chose to stop. A frame from your video can work, but a still built for the format usually reads better than a paused-looking video frame. If you already have a stored ad still, the Google Ads image sizes post lists the other still sizes Google asks for, and the 9:16 Demand Gen image post covers the vertical one.