A Reader’s Report on the Recent Roku Test for Autoplaying Ads: What Do We Need to Know Before Making Sense Of It?

The senior reviewer has worked at The Verge for some time. His coverage area includes audio, Apple, Bose, Sony, and more.

As a budget streaming hardware brand, Roku has been known to push the boundaries on ads. Roku has even gone so far as to apply for a patent for technology that shows ads over anything you plug into your TV (Roku has never actually implemented this capability).

There are less ad-intrusive smart TV platforms available besides Roku. It is getting harder and harder for smart TV users to avoid ads. All TV manufacturers, from budget brands to premium ones, are growing reliant on ads and tracking as ways to bolster revenue among declining hardware prices, sales, and innovation and increased competition.

Your options are to ignore the ads and go about your day, switch to a product like the Apple TV 4K, or use third-party tools in the hopes of avoiding the advertising machine altogether. But be warned: some Roku customers think the company might be finding ways to thwart solutions like Pi-hole.

I hope this is a coincidence, wrote a user on the community forum. I trashed all of my boxes because of that garbage. If it keeps growing, my Rokus will follow.

Roku didn’t respond to requests for comment on whether it has plans to make autoplaying ads permanent on Roku OS, which devices are affected, why Roku decided to use autoplaying ads, or customer backlash.

A representative for Roku says that their business requires continuous testing and innovation, saying that their recent test is just the latest example.

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