---
id: "action-mitigate-delay-stray"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["¶15"]
tags: ["user-segmentation", "risk-management"]
related: ["concept-delay-and-stray", "framework-ad-control-deployment", "concept-ad-content-choice"]
action: "Force pre-roll ads or offer content choice to uncommitted users to prevent impression loss."
outcome: "Prevents lost ad impressions from users abandoning content before deferred ads play."
speakers: ["Siddharth Bhattacharya", "Debashish Ghose", "Gordon Burtch"]
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-70-consumers-control-over-ads"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/research-when-consumers-have-more-control-over-ads-they-respond-better"
sourceTitle: "Research: When Consumers Have More Control Over Ads, They Respond Better"
---
# Mitigate 'Delay and Stray' for New Users

## Action: Mitigate 'Delay and Stray' for New Users

**Do not** offer [[concept-ad-timing-choice]] to users on free trials or those sampling an unfamiliar series. Because these users have low commitment, they are highly likely to defer the ad and then abandon the content before it plays — the [[concept-delay-and-stray]] failure mode.

**Instead:** force a pre-roll advertisement to guarantee the impression, or offer [[concept-ad-content-choice]].

**Action:** Force pre-roll ads or offer content choice to uncommitted users to prevent impression loss.

**Outcome:** Prevents lost ad impressions from users abandoning content before deferred ads play.

This is axis 1 (commitment level) of [[framework-ad-control-deployment]].