Case: pausing refresh timers on tab blur saved a flagged account

Case: pausing refresh timers on tab blur saved a flagged account

What it did: a site running 30s refresh wasn't checking tab visibility, so background tabs racked up unviewable refreshes; we added a pause on blur + resume on focus.

— Setup effort: 1/5 (visibilitychange listener)
— Outcome: viewable rate on refreshed slots jumped 47% → 73%, and the network lifted a soft throttle within 10 days; RPM recovered $7.80 → $11.20
— No new units — just stopped burning impressions on hidden tabs

Pros: cheap fix, directly addresses an invalid-traffic-adjacent quality flag.
Cons: none worth noting; this is a bug fix, not a feature.

Lift: ★★★★★ — Risk: ★☆☆☆☆
Verdict: if you refresh and don't gate on visibility, you have a leak. Patch it today. Best for: any refresh setup. Skip: nobody refreshing.