Features, settings & updates

[KevMc]

Looks like Roku is going to follow Google Android and Amazon and start adding more and more ads everywhere you look.
Turned on Roku this morning and more ads have been added to the Home Screen (aside from the one that already appeared to the right of the app buttons).
I just switched to Roku streaming from Fire TV because of the ads Amazon added on their home screen, specifically the ads that go to FULL SCREEN after a short amount of no activity.
I bought my Sony smart TV, Fire TV,  and my Roku 4K all without all the ads it now has.  Why is it okay for these companies to force these ads on us?
Like other users, I would be willing to pay a reasonable annual fee to remove the ads from the Home Screen.
I watch the Roku Channel and expect to see ads but why on the Home screen of the streaming device? (like I don't know that answer to that question).

[AvsGunnar]

@KevMc 

The lower left ad is reserved mainly (for now, at least) special promotions/upcoming events/partner channels available on Roku.  They used to be Roku and Roku Channel-exclusive promotions, but have expanded a bit.

For those bothered by this extra ad, they do come and go and are not always there.  They will show for a few days or so and then disappear.  They are not yet a constant fixture.

Truthfully, I think the more you use Roku, the less you will even notice the ads since you are only on the Home Screen to find your channels/apps.  For me, I actually do find some some of the content advertised as helpful as I probably would not have it discovered it otherwise.  Now if they start using these ad spaces to start hawking laundry detergent, cars, and products (other than streaming related), then I would likely view them differently.

[Strega2]

So it appears I'm telling you what you already know, but anyway: Roku sells hardware for around cost, and makes money on advertisements and carriage deals. If ads on the home screen are a big deal, then Apple TV might be a preferable streaming platform. Traditional TV providers (Cable, Dish etc.) may also offer devices without ads, though commonly with monthly fees. I don't recall seeing any ads on my Dish Network receiver.

Basically everyone wants to make some money, some companies just do it by charging you enough to make "reasonable" profit, and some get someone else (advertiser) to pay so you can pay less.

It seems to me that most people in the US really like the pay little and get ads business model, because those business models are very common. I dislike ads myself, though primarily the ones in TV shows that interrupt the flow and waste time - I can't watch The Roku Channel at all, for example. However, Roku's home screen ads have not bugged me, so far at least. So, a Roku with ad-free TV subscriptions works well for me.

[MrPickles]

My biggest issue with the ad in the lower left corner is that the play/pause button activates it. This basically removes any ability to enter the "secret menu" that allows me to disable HDR, check signal strength, etc. I use this quite a bit, as my TCL Roku tvs do not have a strong enough backlight to be able to see some of the HDR programming. Until these ads arrived, I had just been able to use this menu to disable HDR and watch my show with the normal (and brighter) resolution. Now every time I try it ends up launching whatever garbage Hulu is trying to get me to watch.

I don't mind ads, as they are pretty much everywhere these days, but linking them to the play button instead of just letting interested users navigate to the ad and select is quite the oversight in my opinion.

Please find another way to activate this ad, or at least give us a way to temporarily disable it so we can use all the features we are used to.

[AvsGunnar]

@MrPickles 

Good thing is that the lower ad is temporary in nature. (usually only sticks around for 2-3 days), but does hinder usage of the special/hidden menu feature when they are showing.

Since Roku considers the special/hidden menus as "unsupported" and not really meant for the end-user to routinely interact with, I'm afraid the requested change will likely fall on deaf ears.

I don't know why they didn't stick with the asterisk (*) button to interact with these ads like they do for the large one on the right.  I assume they learned that some users have a habit of pressing the Play/Pause button quite a bit (ie. trying to escape screensaver mode) that likely results in a greater percentage of users triggering the lower left ad. (could just be the cynic in me though).