Roku’s latest ad experiment just blew up in its face

So, what kinds of streaming ads will you tolerate? Maybe a 60-second commercial break in the middle of a show? Pause ads? A static ad on the home screen? 

There’s a range of streaming advertisement that most of us will tolerate. Nobody loves an unskippable 30-second ad before a YouTube video, but most of us will deal with it, waiting patiently for that “Skip” button to appear to we can jump to (say) that classic SNL skit. 

Similar to other big streaming player manufacturers like Amazon and Google, Roku has been testing the limits of which ads viewers will accept, from auto-playing video ads (sans sound) on the home screen to ads that would actually appear over any content playing on a Roku-powered TV. The home-screen ads seemed to work fine, but (as Ars Technica points out) the latter technology never saw the light of day. 

Striking a proper balance is key. A streaming ad that’s too subtle won’t generate a lot of advertising dollars, but ads that are too intrusive will draw the ire of viewers. The trick is to tiptoe right up to the line, as close as you can get, without quite crossing it. 

Well, with its latest ad experiment, Roku stepped over that bright-red line, and users are understandably pissed. 

In the test, an auto-playing video ad appears when you first turn on your Roku TV or streaming stick, even before the familiar Roku home screen pops up. 

The Roku startup ads (which, in some cases at least, were advertising the recently released Moana 2) began appearing within the last few days, and Roku’s community boards as well as the Roku subreddit are blowing up with bitter complaints. 

The ads do have a “Close” button allowing you to skip to the home screen, but that didn’t stop viewers from letting Roku have it. 

“Unacceptable,” one Reddit owner said, and that was one of the nicer comments. Another user chimed in with “Hell. No,” while many others were promising to toss their Roku players and switch to a competitor, such as Apple TV. 

For its part, Roku says the ads are just a test. Here’s the comment I got from Roku: 

“Roku delivers the best value and experience for our 90M and growing TV streaming households. This has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products. 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.” 

Maybe so, and I have indeed seen some Roku ad experiments that fall into “delightful” territory, such as the quirky ads on the popular Roku City screensaver. But it’s fair to say that Roku didn’t deliver a delightful or “simple” experience with its latest ad test. Instead, users were left frustrated and angry. 

My guess is that a chastened Roku will quickly back off from its experimental startup ads. Indeed, I dug up my own Roku Streaming Stick 4K, started it up (after updating its firmware) and there was the home screen, no Moana 2 ads in sight. 

But if you think this streaming ad boondoggle will stop Roku—or Amazon, or Google—from spinning up new and even more in-your-face ad experiments, think again.