ROKU is testing a controversial new form of advert on its smart TVs and streaming sticks, which has prompted outrage from consumers.
The tech company already has video advertisements on the home screen, much to viewers’ dismay.
A Roku spokesperson said that the autoplaying ads before the home screen are not permanent[/caption]
But now owners of Roku viewers are reportedly being subject to video ads automatically playing before they can even view the home screen.
Viewers say they are being forced to watch a video advert before they get onto their regular Roku home screen.
“If you still somehow didn’t disable internet on your #Roku #TV this is a reminder to do that, unless you want your TV to play [a] random unskippable ad when it’s starting up,” one person wrote on X.
“Don’t use or upgrade Roku devices.”
Another added: “Keep thinking you’re being cute forcing ads into people’s faces and I swear I’ll throw all my Roku products in the trash.”
In a separate thread on Reddit, customers were also in fury.
“This started last night for me,” another viewer wrote. “Pretty disappointing and intrusive.”
They added: “I can’t imagine it’s enough to make me leave Roku, since I already have three sticks and two Roku TVs, but I won’t be buying any future Roku devices.”
A fourth viewer wrote: “That’s absolute garbage. If they make me watch an ad to get to my apps to watch TV, I’m out.”
While a fifth said: “I could accept the static ad on the side. Forcing a loud commercial is awful.”
A Roku spokesperson said that the autoplaying ads before the home screen are not permanent.
Instead, Roku has claimed it is only testing the ad capability out.
The Fire TV and Google TV competitor replaced a static advert with a video on home screens in April last year following a jump in market share and revenue.
Amazon’s Fire TV introduced the same feature in March 2023, which was met with similar backlash.
Last summer, Roku’s director of international ad sales, Mike Shaw, suggested last summer that the company could soon introduce “shoppable” ads.
These would be similar to the ones you see on social media platforms like Facebook, and allow viewers to buy things directly from their TV.
Shaw reckons its a golden opportunity for advertisers – but viewers were less than impressed by the idea as the number of ads on TV streaming services mount.
Roku voice commands – the official list
Here are some voice commands to try with your Roku mobile app, as revealed by the TV giant itself…
- Find a specific movie or show
“Harry Potter”
“find Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“show me episodes of Silicon Valley” - Search for your favorite actors or directors
“Halle Berry”
“search for comedy movies with Will Farrell”
“find all Martin Scorsese films” - Browse popular genres
“show me comedies”
“find thriller movies” - Find content in a genre on a channel
“show documentary films on Sky Store”
- Launch a streaming channel
“go to YouTube”
“launch Prime Video”
“BBC iPlayer”
- Playback commands
“fast forward”
“rewind”
“pause”
“stop”
“resume”
“continue”
“skip”
“next”
“replay” - Closed captioning commands
“turn on closed captioning”
“hide the captions”
“show captions during replay”
“turn on captions during mute”
“what’s my captions setting?”
- Move forward a specific amount of time
“forward 15 minutes”
“skip 5 minutes”
“fast forward 3 minutes”
“go forward 10 minutes” - Move backward (or rewind) a specific amount of time
“go back half an hour”
“rewind 30 minutes” - Restart video from beginning
“start over”
- Search for content
“play Taylor Swift”
“play Daft Punk on Spotify”
“play S-Town on TuneIn” - Interact with your streaming service
“thumbs up/down”
“like/dislike”
“what song is this?”
- Switch devices
“switch the input to HDMI 3”
“switch to antenna TV”
“switch to Blu-ray player” - Change over-the-air broadcast channels
“channel up”
“channel down”
“tune to NBC”
“find channel 7.1″
“previous channel” - Launch or hide Live TV Channel Guide
“open live tv guide”
“open channel guide
“hide channel guide” - Adjust volume levels
“turn the volume up”
“volume down”
“mute”
“set volume to 50%”
“set volume to 5”
