If I'm pausing a video it's usually because I need to talk to someone and can't have sound from an ad playing or I need to read something in the video and can't have an ad on top of it.
That's exactly what I was thinking as well. If I watch a more complex video about maths, programming, engineering or if a primary source is displayed for a second, then I pause the video to have a detailed look AT THE VIDEO, not to look at ads.
What's their definition of "traction" if people literally don't have a choice?
Traction is a marketing buzz word, as though they're trying to say "Our pilot project was a success because x number of people viewed our ads."
But that's completely meaningless because a) they didn't choose to do so, and b) YouTube has no fucking idea if any of those people actually watched the ads or turned elsewhere until they were done.