Samsung is with an intention of inserting ads into its older television sets with a future software update. This update will insert an entirely new panel that is dedicated to ads. If that is not enough, Samsung also inserting it in such a way that users will be forced to view these ads and cannot turn it off even if they want to.
For this purpose, Samsung has roped in Lee Won-jin, a former Google executive and wants to utilize his experience in pushing the ads strategy forward.
“The world’s largest maker of TVs by shipments added new tile ads to the main menu bar of its premium TVs in the U.S. in June 2015 and is planning to expand the program to Europe in coming months, people familiar with the matter said.
Samsung is working to expand its pool of advertising clients by using agencies and its ad-sales team in New York, according to one of these people, and by using software updates to retroactively activate tile ads on older smart TV models.” Said an analyst.
This move is seen as a desperate attempt from Samsung to maximize profits from its TV division which is bleeding due to soft demand and cut-throat competition from the likes of TCL and Vizio.
TV is one of the most used pieces of tech in the home and there are already several ads that the channels display in between the programs. Having ads even in the user interface is something that is unacceptable for me. Samsung already has a user interface that has lots of clutter in it. Most of the users find it very complex and inserting ad tiles will only degrade the overall user experience further.
This isn’t the first time Samsung is attempting such a thing. it tried to insert notification ads into its smartphone to some degree.
I understand that the profits from smart TVs are declining but such attempts will only alienate the user further and they would rather opt for other brands.
