Hulu (No Ads) Still Has Some Advertising And "Promotional Content"

You might be asking yourself today why you are still seeing ads while you are paying for Hulu (No Ads) service. As is occasionally the case with modern products and services, the name doesn't always tell the full extent of the content. In this case, the name might imply that you will not see anything resembling an advertisement inside the Hulu app once you're subscribed to the "Hulu (No Ads)" service. But as the fine print states, there is still a distinct chance that the subscriber will see advertisements while viewing movies and/or shows on Hulu.

As of July 10, 2021, there is only one show in the official Hulu streaming library that will "play a short ad break before and after each episode for Hulu (No Ads) subscribers." That single show is Grey's Anatomy. This list has shrunk since the service's inception. It's not clear if Hulu will ever ad to this list, but they maintain the claim "the list of excluded shows is subject to change."

Subscription to "Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV" delivers content from Hulu's network partners in addition to Hulu's standard streaming library. Hulu has their Hulu (No Ads) agreement worded in a way that suggests the (No Ads) bit only covers the Hulu library. As such, content from "network partners" may have advertisements. The same goes for all live TV viewed through Hulu – it'll still have the same advertisement breaks as it would through any other service.

There may be "promos" – aka "promotional content" before or after content in Hulu from Hulu's partners HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, or Starz. Hulu suggests that content from these services "don't have ad breaks" but may have promotional content "before certain videos."

If you're watching ESPN content on Hulu, there's a good chance you'll see ads. Hulu makes certain to note that content available through their ESPN+ Add-on "may include ads." If you've recorded any content with Cloud DVR, you'll see any and all of the advertisements you'd see during the recording's live broadcast.

Hulu has a subscription feature called Enhanced Cloud DVR that allows users to fast forward through ad breaks in Cloud DVR content. At the moment, Hulu does not indicate which content has ads while browsing the app.

Have you noticed an uptick in advertisements in content you're watching on Hulu? Have you seen interruptions in the content you've seen before without said interruptions? Also yes, you're not seeing things, the price of Hulu has increased.