Roku has drawn the ire of some customers by introducing advertisements that automatically play when a streamer first turns on their television sets.
The power-on ads, first spotted by Roku users over the weekend, included a trailer for the Walt Disney Company’s motion picture “Moana 2,” which became available to view on Disney Plus earlier this month.
A spokesperson for Roku confirmed the power-on ads, saying the move is part of a test with a few customers who use its smart TVs and streaming gadgets.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
Customers are not delighted. Many took to social media, including Reddit and even Roku’s own official forum, to voice their displeasure.
One streamer, who used the alias Seusher, said the Moana 2 ad displayed with a “close” button. While the ad was apparently dismissible, it was enough to trigger a cautionary threat: “If it happens again, I’ll also be getting rid of all Roku products.”
Another named Verta said they would be “shopping alternate streaming boxes,” while a user called Acmehome called the situation “absolutely unacceptable” and threatened to “never use or sell a Roku device again if this happens.”
Roku devices cost around $30, and can be found for as little as $18 in some stores during the holidays. Streamers generally accept that the low cost to acquire a Roku device or smart TV comes with the trade-off of being exposed to ads, especially when it comes to the vast availability of free content in The Roku Channel and other apps.
But even frugal streamers have their limits. And Roku is not hurting for business: The company earned a cool $1.04 billion from subscriptions and advertising during the last three months of 2024, an increase of 25 percent compared to the same time period in 2023 and accounting for more than 86 percent of the company’s overall revenue. (Hardware sales, by comparison, accounted for just $165.7 million — even though Roku devices tend to sell pretty well during the holidays.)
On a recent conference call with investors, Roku CEO Anthony Wood affirmed the company was looking at ways of further monetizing its platform with ads, but promised the approach would be measured.
“Our strategy of making better use of our home screen is not just about putting a marquee video ad on the home screen,” Wood said, adding that the company was “very careful about putting ads on our home screen.”
The home screen is the starting point of Roku devices: It is the portal by which Roku users move across their installed apps — including third party services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and YouTube — and find content to watch using Roku’s native search and discovery engine.
That real estate is incredibly valuable to Roku and to advertisers, but it is just one area Roku figures it can sell ads. Last year, the company patented a process by which it could serve banner ads across other devices connected to the HDMI ports of its smart TVs. The company has never activated that technology, but it hasn’t promised not to in the future.
“We’re very focused on both driving more monetization but also driving increased customer satisfaction,” Wood said.
If there is one thing Roku has learned from its limited test of the power-on ads, it’s that Roku customers are not satisfied with the experience — and they should probably not roll it out more broadly.
