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Advertising Television

After Luring Customers With Low Prices, Amazon Stuffs Fire TVs With Ads (arstechnica.com) 81

Posted by BeauHD from the sacrificing-customer-experience dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: People who buy a Fire TV from Amazon are probably looking for a cheap and simple way to get an affordable 4K smart TV. When Amazon announced its first self-branded TVs in September 2021, it touted them as being a "great value." But owners of the devices will soon be paying for some of those savings in the form of more prominently displayed advertisements. Charlotte Maines, Amazon's director of Fire TV advertising, monetization, and engagement, detailed the new types of ads that Amazon is selling on Fire TVs. 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. Some of the changes targeting advertisers, like connecting display placement ads with specific in-stream video ads, seem harmless enough. Others could jeopardize the TV-watching experience for owners.

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 gets money every time someone interacts with digital content through Alexa. However, the company is double-dipping on this idea by also tying ads to generative AI on Fire TVs. When users ask Alexa to help them find media with queries such as "play the show with the guy who plays the lawyer in Breaking Bad," they will see ads that are relevant to the search. [...] Finally, Amazon is adding "contextual sponsored tiles" that use machine learning to show ads based on whatever content genre or search term the Fire TV user is browsing.

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. This ad space was previously reserved for advertising media and entertainment, making the ads feel more relevant, at least. 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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After Luring Customers With Low Prices, Amazon Stuffs Fire TVs With Ads More

After Luring Customers With Low Prices, Amazon Stuffs Fire TVs With Ads

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  • Ah, the old bait-and-switch! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @05:42PM (#63991413)
    Works every time!
    • There Is No Such Thing As A Service (with apologies to TINST as IP).

      • TINSTAAPP - "There is no such thing as a pitching prospect". Of course this being Slashdot, it should probably morph into TINSTAASBP - "There is no such thing as a sportball prospect" - to show the proper nerd disdain for sports.

        What's this got to do with the topic at hand, you ask? Well... nothing.

        • "There is no such thing as a sportball prospect" - to show the proper nerd disdain for sports.

          Actually, every time there's a story about cord cutting, streaming services and the like, someone always has to chime in with how they just have to have their sportsball.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by narcc ( 412956 )

      Helen Keller could have seen this one coming. Fortunately, all hope is not lost.

      You can still buy a dumb TV, though you'll pay a premium. Look for displays with integrated ATSC tuners, if you're interested in OTA content.

      If you're stuck with an ad infested smart TV, just disconnect it from the internet. It'll still do all of the things a normal TV does, but it won't be able to phone home.

      For 'smart' features, you can use a separate box. As a bonus, you can upgrade or replace it without needing to buy a

    • Works every time!

      PT Barnum would be the worlds richest multi-trillionaire if he were alive today.

      Every minute? There's a sucker born every second now. It might be odd to find a society denying they're devolving, but certainly not surprising.

  • And? (Score:3)

    by WankerWeasel ( 875277 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @05:43PM (#63991417)

    Who didn't think they'd look to make money with it?

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @05:58PM (#63991461)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Same with my Roku branded Hisense tv.

      • Or just purchase a signage display and skip all the internal spyware to begin with. Yep, they cost more but worth every penny of my privacy.

      • Re:And? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @07:48PM (#63991779)

        Joke's on them, we bought the cheaper to us (because they assume they're gonna sell ads) Fire TV and never connected it to the Internet. It makes a great dumb terminal for my gaming PC, Apple TV, Blu-ray player, and Playstation.

        It's only a matter of time - and probably not very much time - before smart TV's and other 'smart' devices will refuse to operate without an internet connection. They'll work for a while in the event of an outage, but after a certain period of time without being able to phone home they'll either just turn off or display a message demanding a 'net connection.

        Buying smart devices just encourages the manufacturers to keep pushing the envelope until they effectively own everything which we "purchase". I really wish people would just stop. If nobody bought this shit then we'd be back to simple TV's and monitors that aren't under the ongoing control of the corporations, and we wouldn't be wasting our time on this discussion.

        • It's only a matter of time - and probably not very much time - before smart TV's and other 'smart' devices will refuse to operate without an internet connection.

          That's what return policies are for.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Look for devices that support open source firmware, or which can be rooted.

        • It's only a matter of time - and probably not very much time - before smart TV's and other 'smart' devices will refuse to operate without an internet connection.

          20 years ago, many would have said you were crazy. Today, many people will still say you are crazy. Those of us who have been paying attention absolutely know that you are not crazy.

          Thankfully, computers need displays and those displays can be used for casual video watching. For now. In 20 more years?

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

            • There are medical, corporate, and governmental use cases where an Internet connected display is never going to fly.

              Three little letters: DRM

              Those 'dumb' displays will be locked to the computing devices that they are authorized to connect to.

              The day absolutely *is* coming, not within my lifetime I think, but what you can view and what you can view it on will be VERY tightly controlled. Richard Stallman could see it clearly coming. I can see it clearly coming. I am unsure why you do not see it coming.

      • No it doesnâ(TM)t. Sceptre makes a 55â dumb panel for $150 or a 77â dumb panel for $330.

    • The problem (if there is one) here is that you pay for the stick, and you pay for Prime. To then throw ads at you isn't a popular move. If Amazon's not making enough out of selling sticks, maybe they should charge more for them? Oh but wait, if they do that, then not so many people will buy them.

      Personally, I think this is a shame. At the moment, our Amazon stick is the gateway to everything except OTA TV. If it becomes too irritating, we'll find other ways to do the same things - our TV has a Netflix app b

  • Alexa, Play 'Ad-Mageddon': The Fire TV Experience (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Press2ToContinue ( 2424598 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @05:46PM (#63991429)
    Ah, the sweet scent of capitalism wafts from our screens, doesn't it? In a bold move that combines the charm of unskippable YouTube ads with the nostalgia of pop-up ridden '90s websites, Amazon's Fire TVs are now the Trojan Horses in our living rooms. Sure, you wanted a smart TV, but what you didn't know you needed was a smart-ass TV that pitches you products while you're just trying to find out if Ross and Rachel are still on a break.

    Looking for a serene nature documentary? Well, get ready for a full-screen banner ad for chainsaws. Want to unwind with some smooth jazz? Alexa suggests noise-cancelling headphones – available at a bargain! And what’s a movie night without a pre-roll ad for car insurance, right?

    Amazon assures us it's for our engagement, monetization, and, dare we say, enjoyment? So, the next time you ask Alexa to play your favorite show, don't be surprised if she responds with, "Sure, but first, have you considered these must-have socks?"

    • And this is the really stupid thing about it - they always have to escalate to chase just one more penny. Always.

      Every reasonable person with a couple of brain cells linked together understands that anything you're provided with will come with a price tag, and somebody's going to want to be compensated or they'll stop providing it. "We'll give you this if you watch a few ads" is a deal we'll agree to. But then it's always more and more ads until everything's overlaid with them, they're embedded, and they

      • Roku TVs don't have ads that I have seen, other than the normal pic on the side about a potential channel or movie. No ads for beer, cars, incontinence pads, and other generic uncurated and unrelated ads.

      • >"We'll give you this if you watch a few ads" is a deal we'll agree to.
        speak for yourself :) there is absolutely nothing worth sitting through advertisements for.

        That said though, could you buy such a TV and just neuter their ad slinging by never connecting it to wifi? Or would it incessantly whine and nag and bitch and complain that it neeeeeeeds internet access for various nebulous (albeit certainly consumer unfriendly) purposes?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          You could always neuter it by disconnecting the internal fire stick. Unfortunately these don't seem to be any cheaper than non-Amazon cheap TVs.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dgatwood ( 11270 )

            You could always neuter it by disconnecting the internal fire stick. Unfortunately these don't seem to be any cheaper than non-Amazon cheap TVs.

            Cheaper isn't necessarily the only metric, though. I bought a moderately cheap smart TV a while back and ended up returning it because the sound was so awful that it made my 1984 Goldstar TV with its monoaural 4-inch speaker sound good by comparison.

            The question should be whether these TVs when configured as a dumb TV without an Internet connection are better than non-smart TVs at a similar price point. If the answer is yes, you should buy them and let Amazon take the loss. If the answer is no, you shoul

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              Unfortunately I can't tell that from looking at Amazon's web page, and I don't really feel like ordering one to find out.

              I assume if Amazon's TVs were anything special they'd be advertising that fact. Samsung, for example, can't wait to tell you about the quantum microLED crystal technology in theirs.

              Amazon's cheap 50" fire TV seems to be about the same price as a non-top line LG or Toshiba, and more expensive than a HiSense. The fire TV that does advertise it's quantumness is the most expensive 50" that sh

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Calydor ( 739835 )

        If the TV was free you might have a point. As far as I understand people paid money for the TV and thus assumed they had paid what the TV cost.

        • Back in the day you could purchase a Kindle that was specifically an "ad-supported" model for something like $50-$75 less than the identical tablet without ads.

          I respected the transparency at least -- to someone, saving that money might be worth it, while others are happy to pay the full amount for an ad-free tablet.

          As long as it's up front and the consumer actually saves some money, ad-supported is perfectly fine. It's when we no longer get a choice that it becomes infuriating.

    • Re:Alexa, Play 'Ad-Mageddon': The Fire TV Experien (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DesScorp ( 410532 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @06:12PM (#63991495) Journal

      Sure, you wanted a smart TV

      I went out of my way to buy a plain TV precisely so that I could avoid this stuff. Roku sticks are cheap, for all the "Smart" features, and I also don't have to worry about my TV going obsolete or unsupported by Amazon/Apple/Et Al this way.

      • I also don't have to worry about my TV going obsolete or unsupported by Amazon/Apple/Et Al this way.

        In the context of a smart TV, "going obsolete" just means you'll have to connect an external streaming device to one of the HDMI ports. Basically, the same thing you'd do with a dumb TV anyway.

    • Capitalism Works (Score:1, Insightful)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 )

      Ah, the sweet scent of capitalism wafts from our screens, doesn't it? In a bold move that combines the charm of unskippable YouTube ads with the nostalgia of pop-up ridden '90s websites, Amazon's Fire TVs are now the Trojan Horses in our living rooms.

      Capitalism is what ALSO gives us an AppleTV which has zero ads of its own, because competition between companies gives us different kinds of tradeoffs...

      So yeah that capitalism is smelling pretty sweet from where I sit thank you very much.

      • Capitalism is what ALSO gives us an AppleTV

        You use Apple TV, I use a Walmart Android TV box with the launcher app replaced.

        We both get no ads. I just paid a lot less. Capitalism, baby!

        • We both get no ads. I just paid a lot less. Capitalism, baby!

          Great point, capitalism has brought us devices all over the spectrum, both in viewing experience quality and cost!

    • If I hadn't already commented here I'd mod you up. But I'm damned if I know whether I'd rate your comment "Funny" or "Insightful". I'd probably have to flip a coin.

  • This is my shocked face! (Score:5, Funny)

    by david.emery ( 127135 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @06:04PM (#63991479)

    :-)

    (Seriously, what did you expect?)

  • Don't connect it to internet? (Score:3)

    by klipclop ( 6724090 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @06:09PM (#63991493)
    If you buy a Google Chrome or other device, you can bypass the built in spyware?
    • Yes, all smart TV's are dumb TV if wifi is disabled. But many are starting to require wifi connection to function.
      • My LG didn't make it obvious how to avoid setting up the WiFi, in a hurry I entered the passphrase and resigned myself to smart TV misery. But then it required me to agree to 4 click through EULAs and I said no to them all. None of the smart functions load now. At all. It's a purely dumb HDMI monitor. It even gets automatic firmware updates still which have fixed some issues I've had.

  • Oh right. Surprise! [wallpapercave.com]

  • ENSHIT (Score:3)

    by blackomegax ( 807080 ) on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @06:19PM (#63991505) Journal
    everything free, subsidized, or overtaking a captive market is subject to enshitification.

  • I expect this will apply to anyone using the Amazon Prime Video app as well. So if I want to watch something on Prime on my Roku, I'll probably see the same ads. The issue is that with a Fire TV, the base screen is the Amazon app.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      Amazon already announced they were adding advertising [slashdot.org] to Prime Video content. You will have to pay an additional $3/mo to remove the ads.

      • Pay to remove ads. How funny is that ?
        Yeah. No Way.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by crow ( 16139 )

        Yes, but this story is about advertising in the user interface, not advertising inserted into the videos.

        I've been working my way through the things on Amazon that I know I want to watch so that I won't have to deal with ads or paying extra.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by SeaFox ( 739806 )

          > Yes, but this story is about advertising in the user interface, not advertising inserted into the videos.

          I feel like that's redundant. The Amazon Prime app interface is already mostly-advertising, as its whole purpose is to promote certain titles. Yeah, I might be searching a term or looking at something I personally "bought" from them in the past, but there's always a bunch of other content being displayed/suggested on the interface. The only way to add more advertising to it would be to interrupting

  • Did you think you could get something for nothing?

    • Did you think you could get something for nothing?

      Money. But only if you play the guitar on the FireTV. That's the way you do it. Lemme tell ya, those guys ain't dumb.

  • Just use your game console to run streaming apps.

  • The tech industry is not about providing services. Itâ(TM)s about monetizing its users via granular advertising.

  • Sounds like a hell of a professional title for those engaged in the worlds oldest profession.

    Not so sure I'd brag about that on a resume.

  • My Sony "Smart" Android based TV has ads and a crappy home screen too. It is not an issue if you are using it as a monitor. It's almost always better to use an external device vs. a built in one.
  • What part of that do people not understand?

    Amazon is taking the inkjet printer model to spectacular extremes heretofore unimagined. The same way HP is cramming its expensive ink cartridges into customers' printers, Amazon is exquisitely and brutally leveraging every one of its seemingly inexpensive and convenient services to milk every single nanosecond of customer attention for money. Confusing Amazon searches drive you to the items that are most profitable for Amazon. Every moment of attention you dir
  • Amazon Stuffs Fire TVs With Ads

    "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further." Obligatory link. [youtube.com]

  • I've recently notice that routines on my Alexa devices that were free until recently are now requiring monthly $0.99/month subscriptions instead.

    Well, screw that. I'm just not going to use those anymore.

    And if you missed the reference to enshitification on Slashdot recently:
    https://news.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]

  • Took them long enough. I never would have guessed that Idiocracy's home entertainment predictions would take longer than the political predictions.

    Now amazon just needs to sell a toilet-armchair to put in front of it.

    • Took them long enough. I never would have guessed that Idiocracy's home entertainment predictions would take longer than the political predictions.

      What political predictions?

      Remember, Dwayne Herbert Elionzo Mountaindew Commacho actually valued the advice of experts (Not Sure), and realised people smarter than him could fix problems.

      We are not in that reality.

  • I watched everything on streaming, then Amazon Prime added unregulated adverts that interrupt the programme in the most annoying way ever.

    I went back to broardcast TV and dvd/bluray boxsets. No issues. And it IS actually nice to bump into a movie I know on live TV that is already 1 hour in. Sometimes I wouldt play a dvd/bluray or start a stream simply because I didnt have enough time to watch all 2 hours of the movie but bumping into the last hour of a loved movie on live TV is, well fun. And the advert

  • Charles Darwin has posted a video on Youtube so that losers can enjoy Youtube ads with their Amazon ads. In the video Darwin talks about how he regrets he never mentioned Idiocracy but he sure saw it coming.

  • I paid $159 for a 43 inch Fire to use as a pc monitor. I changed the settings, so that when it comes back on it defaults to the last input, which in this case is HDMI. I will never use it as a TV. I will probably never see the ads. But guess what? At $159, if it starts to piss me off, Iâ(TM)ll just chuck it and get something else.

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