For a little while now, we’ve been hearing that Google was looking to bring ads to Android TV, and there’s been a few tests. Well, those ads are now rolling out.
So yes, you are going to start seeing ads on your Android TV home screen.
They are called “Staff Picks”. And show up at the top of the screen. They show a popular movie or show from an app that you may or may not have installed. It’s not a trailer, though you can click on the ad to start watching that show. So the ads aren’t totally terrible.
There’s no auto-playing audio or video
One of the most annoying things about Netflix is the auto-playing of audio and video in a trailer when you’re looking for something to watch. Thankfully, Google is not doing that here.
It just shows you a show that you can watch and what app it is on. Like Moana on Disney+.
These ads are going to be a mix of sponsored and Google Play Staff Picks. Particularly right now until Google gets more ads into their system here.
They seem to be based on apps that are already installed on your Android TV. So it’s not necessarily about you downloading more apps, but watching content in those apps. After all, that’s how these services make their money.
The ads aren’t bad, actually
As much as we are all going to hate seeing ads on our Android TV homescreens, the ads aren’t bad actually. They appear at the top of the screen, and really don’t bother you much. And who knows, they might show you something you want to watch and makes it quicker to jump into that show and watch it. Which is always a good thing.
These are tasteful ads, and fortunately, you can actually get rid of them. At least for now. That is likely going to change in the future.
Let’s face it, we know that Google was going to bring ads to Android TV at some point. After all, Google is indeed an ads company, and it makes more than 90% of its revenue from ads. So every product it makes, is to get you to see more ads. So this was bound to happen. Though it did come a lot sooner than it did on Gmail, which is somewhat surprising.
This should be rolling out to your Android TV devices right now.