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from the Grandpa-what-was-TV-like-before-it-was-enshittified? dept.
OEMs are increasingly focused on using TVs as a way to show customers ads:
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.
[...] 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.
[...] Maines told StreamTV Insider that advertisers had been asking for a way to advertise against Fire TV searches. "It just makes sense to expand our existing sponsor tile offering to show advertisements on the search screen with no extra effort or cost for the advertiser," she said.
[...] 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 company seems to be aware of how dominating these types of advertisements can be. Maines emphasized to StreamTV Insider how the native ads are "right at the top of the Fire TV's home screen" and take "up half the screen."
[...] The banner ads will occupy the first slot in the rotating hero area, which Amazon believes is the first thing Fire TV users see. These users may have purchased a Fire TV primarily for streaming content from ad-free subscriptions, but Maines described how Fire TVs can still manage to force ads on these users.
[...] The changes mirror similar moves from others in the TV maker industry.
Vizio has been shifting its business toward advertising for the past few years. Its Q2 2023 earnings report showed its ad business growing 28 percent compared to the same period in 2022, versus a 15 percent increase for the device business. The device business was still larger that quarter ($252.1 million compared to $142.3 million), but it's clear that the company is eyeing advertising as the way forward.
[...] TV giant LG is also moving that way, CEO William Cho announced in July. In a press release that month, LG said it "intends to transform its TV business portfolio into a 'media and entertainment service provider' by expanding content, services, and advertisement in products."
And then there's Telly—the upcoming TV that has a second screen geared toward showing advertisements, including if the TV is turned off. The screen can also show other content, like sports scores or the weather, but its primary gimmick is that the device is given away for free. The cost, instead, comes from a wealth of mandatory data collection used for selling advertisements and products.
Amazon's Fire TV ad push is reflective of many parts of the TV industry. With TV makers today increasingly focused on selling ads on their devices, we'll continue seeing ads stuffed into TV operating systems, potentially at the cost of UI and hardware improvements. TV sellers, similar to the streaming companies whose apps those TVs serve up, have grown increasingly focused on pleasing advertisers and investors with continuous growth and recurring revenue sources. While those parties may smile, customers are left stomaching more ads on TVs that are collecting more data on them.
(Score: 4, Informative) by VLM on Monday November 13 2023, @06:03PM (3 children)
How much money are we talking about?
I went to Amazon and searched for "large monitor". Acer 1080p HDMI 32 inch $160. LG, similar specs, $170. Sceptre 30 inch $210. Now we enter 4K territory, Dell 32 inch 4K Displayport input $250. It seems "thirty inch 1080 monitor" will run a bit under $200 right now, and its hard to buy much larger, although there is a class of 4K monitors that size "around $250+"
Lets take a look at shitty smart TVs, since they refuse to sell normal TVs anymore, lets compare apples to Apples (LOL) and look for 32 inch smart TVs. Vizio with Alexa built in $163, be careful because there are 720 and 1080 models around the same prices. TCL with Roku built in, $150. Samsung LED backlit "smart" $230. Vizio with Chromecast $130. Hisense with "Google Smart TV" $140.
I would say the revenue from monitoring non-monitor TVs in the 1080 resolution and 32 inch size class can't be much more than $10 to $20 and can be as low as, apparently, roughly $0 in some comparisons. However I'd say on average a smart TV costs maybe $10 less than an equivalent dumb monitor.
It seems on Amazon its borderline impossible to purchase a dumb monitor larger than 32 inches and borderline impossible to purchase a (smart) TV smaller than 32 inches. This seems to be the strategy to force TV addicts to voluntarily become monitored by advertisers. However, the amount of money changing hands for the spying is not much, retail its about the cost of a lunch and with the usual retail markups etc the amount of money the mfgr gets for selling out their customers looks like the cost of a chezburger or so, surprisingly little.
You can't watch a new TV without being spied upon in 2023 unless its on a screen smaller than mid-30 inches, so it seems, which is interesting.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday November 13 2023, @10:26PM
My reasoning for thinking they may be safe is, admittedly, not solid. I just think there's a line most manufacturers don't wanna cross where they piss off execs at other companies. I'll put it this way- On multiple occasions at different businesses I've seen conference room TVs suddenly have IT people thrown at them over the high frame rate interpolation feature that 0 people on the planet requested. I can't even imagine what'd happen if someone was about to put up a powerpoint presentation but first we gotta sit through a Geico ad.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday November 14 2023, @02:37PM (1 child)
Sans-smart TVs can be found, they just tend to be of the cheap variety. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Philips-32-Class-HD-720p-LED-TV-32PFL3453-F7/2587374896 [walmart.com] Where they skimped on all of the parts to try and squeeze out the lowest cost device possible. Then you have the likes of LG who is charging an obscene price for a 720p TV that happens to not have Smart functionality built-in. https://www.walmart.com/ip/LG-32-Class-HDR-LED-LCD-TV-32LT570H9UA/868809041 [walmart.com] (Then again, maybe it's Walmart's screwy marketplace?) Especially considering that stupid LG is definitively worse than this ViewSonic (Monitor) that's about $85 cheaper. https://www.walmart.com/ip/ViewSonic-VX3211-4K-MHD-32-Inch-4K-UHD-Monitor-with-99-sRGB-Color-Coverage-HDR10-FreeSync-HDMI-and-DisplayPort/213295702 [walmart.com]
Typically, I've just used whatever LCD TV as my computer monitor. TVs are usually much cheaper, I assume due to shear quantity of TVs sold vs Monitors. I've never been one to nitpick over a monitor, but my eyesight has always been bad. So, I may literally not be seeing the difference between 720p/1080p/4k. At a certain point even I can tell, but at 32" size, 720p is good. Bigger than 32" as my monitor seems a bit overkill, though.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday November 14 2023, @03:00PM
The first TV I bought was a CRT, I am so glad that era of display technology is gone. (I would guess for around $100-$200. I have no idea how much I paid for it at this point.) (50 lb 20" TV, yeah buddy) The next TV I bought was a 32" 720p LCD Sceptre, when they were an unknown brand over a decade ago for about $600. (That one finally bit the dust, probably a capacitor on the MB died or something. It was still being used when I bought my next one.) The 3rd TV I ever bought was a name brand Sony Bravia 720p 32" TV, that thing is still my main computer monitor. Why change it, if it still works? The Sony cost about $650, but Target gave me a $50 discount, if I signed up for a credit card. I promptly paid the $600 off at the customer service counter and never used the thing. Thanks for the $50 Target. (Probably 10+ years ago now.) Since then, there was the price fixing fiasco between TV manufacturers and as a result, the cost (to the consumer) of LCD TVs plummeted. When my Sceptre died we bought a (I believe LG) for cheap that was something like a 40" or so TV (I forget exact size), for something like $200, probably getting close to 7 years ago. A few years ago we bought whatever cheap TV at about $120, 32" (maybe 1080p, I forget). At the about $100 for a decent 32" TV, what's not to like? You want to spend $600 you can get a nice large TV with better specs, but you don't have to spend that much just to get an okay experience. You need a 100"+ size screen? You're talking about low volume TVs (Most people are happy with 32" to 60" screens.) or Projectors. Projectors just tend to be more expensive than TVs and low volume TVs don't benefit much from economy of scale. The big issue with Projectors is that you end up with burned screens really easily, if you leave them on too long. At least on the cheap end of the scale. We had a cheap 480p projector that wife abused and the screen got burned pretty quickly. I did buy a different cheap projector ($100 or so for 720p), which still works fine, but we just don't use it as much anymore.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"