What will Roku do with the Moana ad? An Ars Technica statement on “Nearly Future Trends in Smart TVs”

He is a senior reviewer at The Verge. His coverage areas include audio (Sonos, Apple, Bose, Sony, etc.), home theater, smartphones, photography, and more.

Roku first started moving beyond static homescreen ads last year. This is also the company that has explored the idea of inserting ad overlays for plugged-in HDMI devices, which would extend Roku’s reach beyond its own players. In a statement to Ars Technica, Roku steered clear of admitting that it might’ve gone overboard here, saying that the company “has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products.” The Moana startup ad is apparently an example of “new ways to showcase brands and programming while still providing a delightful and simple user experience.” From the feedback so far, customers seem to view this as anything but delightful.

There are other smart TV platforms that don’t display ads. It’s getting harder for smart TV users to avoid ads. All TV manufacturers, from budget brands to premium ones, are growing dependency on ads and tracking to increase revenue, because of declining hardware prices, sales, and innovation and increased competition.

You can ignore the ads and go about your day, switch to an Apple TV 4K product that comes with built-in advertising, or use third-party tools to avoid the ads altogether. Some people think that the company may be finding ways to stop solutions like Pi-hole.

A user on Roku’s community forum wrote, “I hope this was a fluke. Years ago I trashed all of my boxes because of trash. If it keeps increasing, I’ll be next.

When asked if it has any plans to make the autoplaying ads permanent, or if it decided to use it because of the customer backlash, Roku doesn’t have a response.

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.”

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Ars Technica, a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews and more, originally published this story. Ars is owned by WIRED’s parent company, Condé Nast.