As a Roku TV owner. Twice, this story from ARS Technica got my attention this morning. According to the story, owners of Roku devices are seeing ads before the home screen loads:
Reports of Roku customers seeing video ads automatically play before they could view the OS’ home screen started appearing online this week. A Reddit user, for example, posted yesterday: “I just turned on my Roku and got an … ad for a movie, before I got to the regular Roku home screen.” Multiple apparent users reported seeing an ad for the movie Moana 2. The ads have a close option, but some users appear to have not seen it.
When ARS Technica reached out to Roku about this, this is what they said:
When reached for comment, a Roku spokesperson shared a company statement that confirms that the autoplaying ads are expected behavior but not a permanent part of Roku OS currently. Instead, Roku claimed, it was just trying the ad capability out.
Roku’s representative said that Roku’s business “has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products,” adding:
Our recent test is just the latest example, as we explore new ways to showcase brands and programming while still providing a delightful and simple user experience.
Here’s some feedback for Roku. Ads that you can’t skip do not make a “delightful and simple user experience.” Now I have not seen this on my Roku TV, but when I asked my wife what she thought of this, her response was that she would tell me to buy a “dumb” TV and put an Apple TV device on it. Apparently Roku users feel the same way:
Most of the comments that Ars Technica has reviewed about the marketing “test” have suggested that customers would get rid of their Roku device if the software continues to force them to watch an ad before getting to the content they actually want to see. A user on Roku’s community forum wrote:
I hope this was a fluke. I trashed all of my Amazon boxes years ago because of this garbage. If it keeps up, my Rokus will be next.
Forum users who worried the change was permanent called the ads “unacceptable” and “intrusive.”
If Roku increases its ad load on customer devices from still images to ads with moving pictures with sound, it will test customers’ limits. Some who have tolerated a static image on a neglected part of their screen may not be as accepting of more distracting ad formats.
“I could accept the static ad on the side. Forcing a loud commercial is awful,” one Redditor wrote.
While I get that Roku is likely in the ad business as I can’t see them making large amounts of money off of selling devices and licensing their tech to TV manufacturers, not to mention getting a cut of streaming revenue, this sort of behaviour is not cool. And Roku would be well advised to rethink this given that there has been user blowback and people like me are talking about this in a negative way. Let’s see if Roku decides to do that.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
This entry was posted on March 18, 2025 at 11:38 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Roku. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Roku Is Apparently Testing Ads That Load Before Your Home Screen That May Be “Unskippable”…. WTF?
As a Roku TV owner. Twice, this story from ARS Technica got my attention this morning. According to the story, owners of Roku devices are seeing ads before the home screen loads:
Reports of Roku customers seeing video ads automatically play before they could view the OS’ home screen started appearing online this week. A Reddit user, for example, posted yesterday: “I just turned on my Roku and got an … ad for a movie, before I got to the regular Roku home screen.” Multiple apparent users reported seeing an ad for the movie Moana 2. The ads have a close option, but some users appear to have not seen it.
When ARS Technica reached out to Roku about this, this is what they said:
When reached for comment, a Roku spokesperson shared a company statement that confirms that the autoplaying ads are expected behavior but not a permanent part of Roku OS currently. Instead, Roku claimed, it was just trying the ad capability out.
Roku’s representative said that Roku’s business “has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products,” adding:
Our recent test is just the latest example, as we explore new ways to showcase brands and programming while still providing a delightful and simple user experience.
Here’s some feedback for Roku. Ads that you can’t skip do not make a “delightful and simple user experience.” Now I have not seen this on my Roku TV, but when I asked my wife what she thought of this, her response was that she would tell me to buy a “dumb” TV and put an Apple TV device on it. Apparently Roku users feel the same way:
Most of the comments that Ars Technica has reviewed about the marketing “test” have suggested that customers would get rid of their Roku device if the software continues to force them to watch an ad before getting to the content they actually want to see. A user on Roku’s community forum wrote:
I hope this was a fluke. I trashed all of my Amazon boxes years ago because of this garbage. If it keeps up, my Rokus will be next.
Forum users who worried the change was permanent called the ads “unacceptable” and “intrusive.”
If Roku increases its ad load on customer devices from still images to ads with moving pictures with sound, it will test customers’ limits. Some who have tolerated a static image on a neglected part of their screen may not be as accepting of more distracting ad formats.
“I could accept the static ad on the side. Forcing a loud commercial is awful,” one Redditor wrote.
While I get that Roku is likely in the ad business as I can’t see them making large amounts of money off of selling devices and licensing their tech to TV manufacturers, not to mention getting a cut of streaming revenue, this sort of behaviour is not cool. And Roku would be well advised to rethink this given that there has been user blowback and people like me are talking about this in a negative way. Let’s see if Roku decides to do that.
Share this:
Like this:
Related
This entry was posted on March 18, 2025 at 11:38 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Roku. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.