Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.
This way, when an owner of a Roku TV takes a short break from playing a game on their Xbox, or streaming something on an Apple TV device connected to the TV set, Roku would use that break to show ads. Roku engineers have even explored ways to figure out what the consumer is doing with their TV-connected device in order to display relevant advertising.
My parent’s 10 year old Sharp TV has a Netflix button on the remote. That’s how long this has been going on.
Yeah, just saying Roku is has been the worst offender of this. Other manufacturers restricted these promotional buttons to streaming services that have large user bases. Roku sells those buttons to anyone who pays enough, and their remotes famously feature services that people don’t care about.