Roku viewers furious as bosses reveal plan to implement ‘intrusive’ changes to popular TV device

ROKU customers – like many smart TV viewers – have been angered by the increasing number of ads in recent years.

Now, Roku’s director of international ad sales, Mike Shaw, said he wants to feature “shoppable” ads similar to those you see on social media platforms like Facebook.

Basically, they allow viewers to buy things directly from the ads they see on TV.

However, viewers dubbed them “intrusive” and “insulting”.

Shaw considers it a golden opportunity for advertisers.

He envisions a future where viewers will be able to order takeaway food while watching a film, for example, an advert for Deliveroo or Dominos.

“Consumers can click and buy products while enjoying a nighttime show or order food and snacks while watching a sports game,” Shaw wrote on the business-focused outlet Retail Tech Innovation Hub.

“It’s all part of a complementary, branching buyer journey.”

The ads will not only be from well-known retail giants, but also from smaller companies.

Shaw described the ad style as “bringing the sales funnel down to just one click.”

But it’s clear from comments made on social media that Roku customers — and others who use similar TV sets — are tired of the constant increase in ads.

“Roku will display video ads in its menus before you open a streaming service app,” complained one longtime customer on X.

“First there were the advertisements on the menus. Then the billboards blocking the scenery in the screen saver scenes.

“I’ve been using a Roku box for about a decade. Little by little she became more intrusive.

“They filed a patent last year on ways to display ads on other devices connected to your TVs, like your gaming system or laptop.

“I just don’t. It’s a device. It’s hardware. I didn’t buy it to advertise myself.”

Another viewer wrote on Reddit that he was “insulted” by the increase in advertising on Roku devices.

They joked, “Why not let me buy a robotic arm for my TV for just $99.99 that swipes my credit card and steals my money when I go to the bathroom?

“And a $19.99 monthly subscription that keeps the built-in flamethrower from burning down my house.”

Roku Voice Commands – The Official List

Here are some voice commands to try with your Roku mobile app, as revealed by the TV giant itself…

• Find a specific movie or show
  “Harry Potter”
  “find Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
  “Show me Silicon Valley episodes”
  
• Search for your favorite actors or directors
  “Halle Berry”
  “search for comedy films with Will Farrell”
  “find all Martin Scorsese films”
  
• Browse popular genres
  “show me comedies”
  “find suspense films”
  
• Find content of a genre on a channel
  “show documentaries on Sky Store”

• Launch a streaming channel
  “go to YouTube”
  “launch Prime Video”
  “BBC iPlayer”

• Playback commands
  “fast forward”
  “go back”
  “break”
  “to stop”
  “resume”
  “Continue”
  “to jump”
  “next”
  “repeat”
  
• Closed Caption Commands
  “enable closed captioning”
  “hide subtitles”
  “show subtitles during replay”
  “activate subtitles during mute”
  “What’s my subtitles setting?”

• Advance a specific period of time
  “forward 15 minutes”
  “skip 5 minutes”
  “forward 3 minutes”
  “forward 10 minutes”
  
• Rewind (or rewind) a specific period of time
  “Come back half an hour”
  “go back 30 minutes”
  
• Restart the video from the beginning
  “restart”

• Search for content
  “play Taylor Swift”
  “play Daft Punk on Spotify”
  “play S-Town on TuneIn”
• Interact with your streaming service
  “thumbs up/down”
  “like/dislike”
  “What song is this?”

• Swap devices
  “change the input to HDMI 3”
  “switch to TV antenna”
  “switch to Blu-ray player”
• Change over-the-air broadcast channels
  “channel”
  “channel disabled”
  “tune in to NBC”
  “find channel 7.1″
  “previous channel”
  
• Launch or hide Live TV Channel Guide
  “open live TV guide”
  “open channel guide
  “hide channel guide”
  
• Adjust volume levels
  “Turn up the volume”
  “low volume”
  “mute”
  “set volume to 50%”
  “set volume to 5”