After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads
After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads
OEMs are increasingly focused on using TVs as a way to show customers ads.
What a totally expected turn of events!
And you are surprised?
I have a nearly-dumb TV (chosen for that and never connected to the Internet) and a separate little Android TV box I got from AliExpress for 25 bucks were I only use Kodi.
The TV is maybe 4 years old, the little box maybe 1 year (I had a 10 year old similar thing before but it can't handle newer video formats so I switched).
Have yet to see a single Ad.
Mind you my setup is as is because I've long ago learned that you want your fast-changing-cheap-tech bits separate from your expensive-long-life stuff, so in this case I want my digital video file decoding hardware separate from the much more expensive large digital TV screen so that I can switch the former without paying a new of the - much more expensive - latter.
This is sort of what happened with Google Chromecast with Google TV. I bought that on a technicality for my parents over an Apple TV. My mom (who isn't a native English speaker) was watching another foreign language show on Netflix and whenever she paused on the Apple TV the seek bar would come in and overlay itself on the subtitles. She was frequently pausing just to catch up on the long sentences to read them and then unpausing just as quickly. This wasn't an issue on the Android-based Netflix, where the subtitles remained in view.
Well OF COURSE because it's fucking Google they started shoving more and more ads onto the device, to the extent that my parents actually get pretty confused on how to properly navigate the thing. It makes me so mad.
Remember that "deal" always has depth behind it. They are waiting to reach critical mass so they can "throw the switch". Streaming services, "smart" devices, subscription services... You should only engage with these "deals" if you understand the bigger picture and have a plan to disengage quickly as soon as they pull their bullshit.
Your black Friday TV is NOT the same as the TV that brand typically sells. It's a different sku, all the parts are deliberately sourced lesser quality versions and it's literally designed to break/fail earlier than the "normal" version. You're not getting a deal on the TV you wanted, you're buying a lesser TV - Not necessarily a bad thing if you know what you're buying, but you need to know what you're buying.
I do wonder what makes some people despise ads.
I myself do, but I’ve never been told to or even been echo chambered (well maybe now, but not always). Going back over tens years and detested them.
But at work some people think ad-blockers shouldn’t be a thing as it’s stealing as the internet runs on ads and I just can’t see that point of view. However valid it could be.
I don’t want to see them all my digital life as they are on the real world. Christ I’ve seen them on the pissing motorway ffs.
How is this surprising?
Who didn’t see this coming?
Oh no! Whoever could have foreseen this awful turn of events! Amazon would never (checks notes) stuff ads down our throats.
Put your network behind NextDNS or a self-hosted solution like Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home.
This is literally the oldest trick in the book, haha.
I'll keep buying dumb TVs for as long as they're around to thrift for. There's going to be plenty of flat screen dumb TVs for a lifetime.
I'm pretty sure everybody saw this coming. Well, everybody with any brains in their head.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a StreamTV Insider report from November 1, Amazon said the new ads will allow advertisers to reach an average of 155 million unique monthly viewers.
For example, Amazon is preparing to make Alexa with generative AI more useful for finding content on Fire TVs.
This could help Alexa, which has struggled alongside other tech giants' voice assistants to generate significant revenue.
Amazon Fire TV users will also start seeing banner ads on the device's home screen for things that have nothing to do with entertainment or media.
Amazon opening the ad space to more types of advertisers is similar to a move Google TV made early this year.
The banner ads will occupy the first slot in the rotating hero area, which Amazon believes is the first thing Fire TV users see.
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No shit.
Whatever it is, I imagine it's a horrible product that doesn't work well and consistently disappoints its users.