That’s what some smart TV users with Google TV and Android TV operating systems have faced this year. You may not even mind seeing ads for a new episode of your favorite show or a new action movie that is based on your past viewing history, but what about ads for things that have nothing to do with your TV experience, like a carbonated drink, a physical store or a car? Whether we like it or not, ads have become a staple of smart TVs, but some of them can be more icky and intrusive than others. Pushing cars and cafes is pushing it too far? For more about how your smart TV tracks you and how you can opt out of some of it, see our article. This data may be enriched with other information about you, such as your estimated age or other demographic data sourced from third parties. In addition to your viewing history, smart TVs can also collect device information, such as your TV’s IP address, and infer your approximate location. It then matches that fingerprint against its library of fingerprints to learn exactly what you watched. It works by sampling any type of content you play on the TV, including commercials, and creating a ‘fingerprint’ of that sample. One technology that allows smart TVs to gain insight into what you’re watching is called ACR, which stands for Automatic Content Recognition. They do this either by default or by prompting you to opt in during setup. Smart TVs collect data about what you watch, how often, and for how long, and share this information with advertisers so they can target ads to you. But with the price of large, high-end smart TVs dropping to historic lows, ads are what help manufacturers offset expenses, allowing them to sell hardware for the cost of making it, or even less. Paying for a streaming device and subscriptions and still seeing ads may feel counterintuitive and even unfair. They come from the TV’s operating system or platform, such as Roku OS for Roku TVs or Android TV for Nvidia Shield TV. These ads can pop up on the TV’s home screen, app store, or app launcher. Not only do streaming services themselves show ads before or during the shows ( Netflix and Disney+ are the latest to have hopped on the ad-supported trend) but smart TVs also display ads on their own. Ads, the nuisance which we once hoped to avoid by switching from satellite and cable to streaming TV, have never quite gone away.

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