Amazon Fire TV Ads Are Declining in Quality

Ads are generally disliked, but the production costs of big-budget movies and shows need to be covered. Streaming services and smart TV platforms have been testing out different types of ads, some of which can be quite irritating. If you own a Fire TV device, you not only have to endure additional ads while streaming, but they also appear on your home screen.

Amazon has introduced new advertising opportunities for advertisers on Fire TV. The company aims to provide ads that can reach approximately 155 million unique monthly viewers, which is about six out of every ten U.S. adults. One notable change is that Amazon is now allowing other advertisers to use the "Feature Rotator," which was previously exclusive to streaming services. As a result, you may see advertisements for real-life products like cars and snacks as banners at the top of your home screen. These banners take up half of your screen and may include a video component that can play an ad video. It is possible to disable autoplay to prevent immediate loudness upon loading, although the ad will still be present.

Amazon, as reported by StreamTV Insider, has introduced a new feature on its search page, where it will incorporate advertisements. Previously, the search page was free from ads, but now Amazon plans to offer slots to advertisers to display "sponsored tiles" alongside search results. These sponsored tiles will appear beside the top search result for every query.

Google TV made a similar move earlier this year, increasing the number of ads and allowing third-party advertisers to place top-banner ads. This appears to be a recurring pattern and is likely to become unavoidable on most smart TV platforms. While some platforms, like Roku, have a less intrusive advertising approach on their home screens for now, the trend is becoming increasingly annoying.

Editor's P/S

As a Gen Z netizen, I have mixed feelings about the increasing number of ads on Amazon Fire TV. On the one hand, I understand that ads are necessary to cover the production costs of big-budget movies and shows. On the other hand, I find it frustrating to have to sit through ads when I'm trying to watch something. I also don't like the way that ads are becoming more and more intrusive. For example, the new "Feature Rotator" ads on Fire TV take up half of the screen and can't be skipped. I think that this is a step too far, and I'm worried that it will only get worse in the future.

I'm also concerned about the privacy implications of these ads. Amazon is collecting a lot of data about our viewing habits, and I'm not sure how they're using it. I'm worried that they're using this data to target us with ads that are tailored to our specific interests. This could be a major invasion of privacy, and I think that Amazon needs to be more transparent about how they're using our data.