5 ms·

there's nothing wrong with ads on stuff like this; televisions aren't sacred ground.

simonh 5y ago
There's nothing wrong with it, if you are told about this up front and it's part of your purchasing calculation. Retroactively adding ads to an ad-free device after the customer has purchased it, sometimes buying it specifically to avoid competing devices with ads, is inexcusable bullshit.
- shmolf 5y ago
  If you subscribe to cable/satellite television, you expect there to be advertising. I'm not certain, but i suspect the agreement you sign while signing up for cable or streaming services, would include some sort of advertising clause. Ie, u less a service explicitly promotes am ad-free experience, there should be no expectations of such.
  - teekert 5y ago
    I guess I can come to your house tomorrow and paint some ads on the walls, or were you promised an ad free experience?
    - leesalminen 5y ago
      How about their car’s infotainment system? Can we start showing them ads when stopped at a light or were they promised an ad free experience there as well?
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - jiofih 5y ago
        You’re late to the game, Ford is working on that already.
        ethbr0 5y ago
        I mean, it's been the new hotness at gas stations for a minute now. Which is something childhood me never would have expected. "Once screens and connectivity costs fall below a threshold, advertising is guaranteed to follow."
  - jyrkesh 5y ago
    This isn't about a service, it's about devices. The Google TV launcher is the de-facto UI for Android TV devices (like my Nexus Player, which is...7 YEARS OLD and now gets ads) and Google/Android TV-powered TVs, which are made by a bunch of different manufacturers. While my Nexus Player is rooted and I could theoretically install a different launcher, many of these TVs can't be modified. So if you purchased a TV thinking that it's smart capabilities were like a dumb OS UI into services like Netflix or Hulu (which may or may not have ads in their service agreement, as you point out), now they're getting pushed Amazon Fire-esque ads that prioritize spending money with Google from the UI over the services that you want to use.
  - PostThisTooFast 5y ago
    "If you subscribe to cable/satellite television, you expect there to be advertising." WTF, NO YOU DON'T. You SUBSCRIBE, meaning you PAY for it. That means NO ADS. Subscriber-supported and ad-supported are SEPARATE, unless you're a spineless twat who's willing to PAY to watch ADS.
malcolmgreaves 5y ago
Super wrong. Google sold one product then removed functionality after sale. That's very illegal.
- rconti 5y ago
  A good parallel is the recent Peloton Treadmill update (as a result of the CPSC suit). You used to be able to use the treadmill without video content, it worked as a treadmill; you only had to pay for a subscription if you wanted Peloton content on the screen. This seems fairly obvious to anyone buying the device, and makes sense. I buy a treadmill, I can use the treadmill forever, but if i want content, I pay a monthly fee. When they push a software update that makes the treadmill unusable without the subscription, now you're tied to not only paying for the service (at whatever price they decide that week), but you're also tied to the company itself continuing to exist and OFFER content. A bunch of lawsuits have been filed, I'm sure it'll be reverted to 'the way it was' soon. (I honestly believe it was a largely clumsy move in trying to quickly tie a PIN code to the software to keep kids/unauthorized users from turning it on). But it's a parallel here. My Google TV device might show ads on the TV network, but you pay for the device to not get ads on the home screen like the awful Fire Stick I have. (every time you hit 'play' to try to unpause a program, you are actually hitting 'play' on the terrible ad they gave you).
  - the_snooze 5y ago
    A lot of "innovation" in consumer tech is really just turning previously-standalone devices into subscription platforms and/or billboards. I'm sure the engineers who build these are proud of their contributions to society.
  - thereddevil 5y ago
    This is a bad take on Peloton. Peloton made it subscription only because the default user experience had bad design in that treadmills can be pin locked only if the customer is subscribed. In order to compensate for the bad design peloton has offered 3 months of subscription for free and has promised to add the pin lock feature to non subscribers soon. Not that I agree with anything Peloton has done in this situation, but you make it sound much worse than it already is.
Retric 5y ago
There is a huge problem with selling something and then making it worse after people buy it.
jbluepolarbear 5y ago
Nothing wrong. But I and many others have migrated away from google products because of actions like this.
- sli 5y ago
  The constant bombardment of expectations that you'll spend more money is normalized, but it is not ok.
hulitu 5y ago
Of course it is not. We shall have ads, microfones and cameras everywhere.
unethical_ban 5y ago
If I know about it, then yes. Like Amazon putting ads on their Kindle lock screens unless you pay an extra $20. I bought my Shield as a premium device, not expecting the launcher to change substantially - much less to put ads on the screen.

There's nothing wrong with it, if you are told about this up front and it's part of your purchasing calculation. Retroactively adding ads to an ad-free device after the customer has purchased it, sometimes buying it specifically to avoid competing devices with ads, is inexcusable bullshit.

shmolf 5y ago
If you subscribe to cable/satellite television, you expect there to be advertising. I'm not certain, but i suspect the agreement you sign while signing up for cable or streaming services, would include some sort of advertising clause. Ie, u less a service explicitly promotes am ad-free experience, there should be no expectations of such.
- teekert 5y ago
  I guess I can come to your house tomorrow and paint some ads on the walls, or were you promised an ad free experience?
  - leesalminen 5y ago
    How about their car’s infotainment system? Can we start showing them ads when stopped at a light or were they promised an ad free experience there as well?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - jiofih 5y ago
      You’re late to the game, Ford is working on that already.
      - ethbr0 5y ago
        I mean, it's been the new hotness at gas stations for a minute now. Which is something childhood me never would have expected. "Once screens and connectivity costs fall below a threshold, advertising is guaranteed to follow."
- jyrkesh 5y ago
  This isn't about a service, it's about devices. The Google TV launcher is the de-facto UI for Android TV devices (like my Nexus Player, which is...7 YEARS OLD and now gets ads) and Google/Android TV-powered TVs, which are made by a bunch of different manufacturers. While my Nexus Player is rooted and I could theoretically install a different launcher, many of these TVs can't be modified. So if you purchased a TV thinking that it's smart capabilities were like a dumb OS UI into services like Netflix or Hulu (which may or may not have ads in their service agreement, as you point out), now they're getting pushed Amazon Fire-esque ads that prioritize spending money with Google from the UI over the services that you want to use.
- PostThisTooFast 5y ago
  "If you subscribe to cable/satellite television, you expect there to be advertising." WTF, NO YOU DON'T. You SUBSCRIBE, meaning you PAY for it. That means NO ADS. Subscriber-supported and ad-supported are SEPARATE, unless you're a spineless twat who's willing to PAY to watch ADS.

malcolmgreaves 5y ago

Super wrong. Google sold one product then removed functionality after sale. That's very illegal.

rconti 5y ago
A good parallel is the recent Peloton Treadmill update (as a result of the CPSC suit). You used to be able to use the treadmill without video content, it worked as a treadmill; you only had to pay for a subscription if you wanted Peloton content on the screen. This seems fairly obvious to anyone buying the device, and makes sense. I buy a treadmill, I can use the treadmill forever, but if i want content, I pay a monthly fee. When they push a software update that makes the treadmill unusable without the subscription, now you're tied to not only paying for the service (at whatever price they decide that week), but you're also tied to the company itself continuing to exist and OFFER content. A bunch of lawsuits have been filed, I'm sure it'll be reverted to 'the way it was' soon. (I honestly believe it was a largely clumsy move in trying to quickly tie a PIN code to the software to keep kids/unauthorized users from turning it on). But it's a parallel here. My Google TV device might show ads on the TV network, but you pay for the device to not get ads on the home screen like the awful Fire Stick I have. (every time you hit 'play' to try to unpause a program, you are actually hitting 'play' on the terrible ad they gave you).
- the_snooze 5y ago
  A lot of "innovation" in consumer tech is really just turning previously-standalone devices into subscription platforms and/or billboards. I'm sure the engineers who build these are proud of their contributions to society.
- thereddevil 5y ago
  This is a bad take on Peloton. Peloton made it subscription only because the default user experience had bad design in that treadmills can be pin locked only if the customer is subscribed. In order to compensate for the bad design peloton has offered 3 months of subscription for free and has promised to add the pin lock feature to non subscribers soon. Not that I agree with anything Peloton has done in this situation, but you make it sound much worse than it already is.

Retric 5y ago

There is a huge problem with selling something and then making it worse after people buy it.

jbluepolarbear 5y ago

Nothing wrong. But I and many others have migrated away from google products because of actions like this.

sli 5y ago
The constant bombardment of expectations that you'll spend more money is normalized, but it is not ok.

hulitu 5y ago

Of course it is not. We shall have ads, microfones and cameras everywhere.

unethical_ban 5y ago

If I know about it, then yes. Like Amazon putting ads on their Kindle lock screens unless you pay an extra $20. I bought my Shield as a premium device, not expecting the launcher to change substantially - much less to put ads on the screen.