Roku autoplaying ads

As per the law. Ars Technica reports “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen:

Owners of smart TVs and streaming sticks running Roku OS are already subject to video advertisements on the home screen. Now, Roku is testing what it might look like if it took things a step further and forced people to watch a video ad play before getting to the Roku OS home screen.

Press your luck, you might have locked in your users well enough.

Roku’s representative said that Roku’s business “has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products,” adding:

Our recent test is just the latest example, as we explore new ways to showcase brands and programming while still providing a delightful and simple user experience.

They call a “delightful and simple user experience” something no user asked for, and then hate it when its done.

It’s not user experience, it’s advertiser experience. Something that put aside the customers for making a few extra bucks. And the worst is that they uchange the product that customer paid for.

Imagine buying a car, and then 6 months in, the dealership change the seat so that you sit on spikes. “We have improved the user experience so you are ever more eager to arrive at your destination.” Or just when you stop.

Did I say users hate it? But it doesn’t matter as Roku’s business is not to provide a platform to consume content but rather to sell advertising space.