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Roku Tests Showing Ads Before the Home Screen Loads

Reports of Roku customers seeing video ads automatically play before they could view the OS’ home screen started appearing online this week. A Reddit user, for example, posted yesterday: “I just turned on my Roku and got an … ad for a movie, before I got to the regular Roku home screen.” Multiple apparent users reported seeing an ad for the movie Moana 2. The ads have a close option, but some users appear to have not seen it.
https://www.wired.com/story/roku-tests-showing-video-ads-before-the-home-screen-loads/

YouTube starts showing ads when you pause a video on TV

Back in May 2024, Google announced that YouTube would be getting some new ad formats on TVs, including a format that would place ads on screen whenever the video was left paused. There was no timeline given for when this format would start rolling out, but it appears to be showing up for some users now.
https://9to5google.com/2024/09/11/youtube-pause-ad-tv-update/

Instagram tests forcing users to watch adverts

“We’re always testing formats that can drive value for advertisers," it said in a statement, adding that it would provide further updates if the test resulted in permanent format changes. One person on Threads called the move "bonkers" – adding that it "seems like an aggressively pushy move to earn more ad dollars for Meta".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c877y6mxdp7o

YouTube is now cracking down on ad blockers globally | TechCrunch

YouTube is now cracking down on ad-blocker usage globally, by showing warnings about breaking the platform’s terms of service. In some cases, the company is preventing users from viewing more videos unless they disable ad blocks. The video streaming platform started experimenting in June, when it showed a message to users saying that the video player would be blocked after three videos if the ad blocker wasn’t disabled.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/01/youtube-is-now-cracking-down-on-ad-blockers-globally/

Google flips the switch on interest-based ads with ‘Privacy Sandbox’ rollout | TechCrunch

Google is now rolling out Privacy Sandbox — its tech to replace third-party cookies — to all Chrome users. The company is touting this as a more privacy-forward feature, which tracks topics of interest based on your browsing habits. Advertisers can then use this data to show you relevant ads. The company has been showing a new popup about Privacy Sandbox to users over the last few days. Users have complained about the pop-up not providing enough information about the cookie replacement tech and how the company will generate topics of interest based on browsing data if you click on “Got it.” Investor Paul Graham even labeled this pop-up as “spyware.”
https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/08/google-flips-the-switch-on-interest-based-ads-with-privacy-sandbox-rollout/