People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with ads

"I'm about to just toss the whole thing..."

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[Jeenam]

Shocking /s

 

[SixDegrees]

I've noticed the same on broadcast television. I forget which show I was watching, but during the show itself there were several consecutive ads shown in the lower-right corner of the screen about other shows on that service. And - kind of the ultimate, I guess - the same thing happened during the commercial breaks, so I was seeing ads within other ads for other things. We have apparently reached the Ad Saturation Point, and will soon cross over the Ad Event Horizon.

But at least there will be advertisements for it.

 

[Aurich]

“This is getting ridiculous and I'm about to just toss the whole thing and move back to Google"

Good luck!

(Original comic here)

 

[stormcrash]

Uptick? How many more could they possibly even cram in at this point? Granted it's been quite a number of years since I purged Echo from my life but the advertisements were constant even back then and would always be re-enabled after a software update to the device or to the app

 

[Alyeska]

Ads started popping up on my Echo Show 8 after not seeing any for two years. So Amazon figured out how to bypass that particular trick. I still don't see ads on my Echo Show 5 because I have it set to Night Mode 23 hours and 59 minutes of the day.

Echo Show 8 has been unplugged and I have no intention of ever using it again.

 

[SunnyD]

This is why I got rid of mine this past year. Between the crap they do with prime, the lack of privacy controls, and the last year or two of hemming and hawing over what the Echo line actually meant I saw the writing on the wall. I'm already inundated by ads everywhere else in life, I don't need yet another avenue to see them.

 

[mygeek911]

So far, I haven’t seen any ads on the Amazon Show I’ve had for several years. When the flood starts, I’ll toss it.

 

[Person_Man]

I made the mistake of getting an Amazon TV - it was a good price and I just needed it for the display. Every time I turn it on, it insists that it needs to be hooked up to the wifi. Still haven't done that, but it's a process every time just to get it on to HDMI 1.

 

[TheTamago]

Every Consumer Tech Device will now come a hidden SaaS. (Subscription Ad as Service) rolls away

 

[Mental Gear Reduction]

I bought one of the FireTV Cubes when they were new, and goddamn, that thing is absolutely festooned with ads. And it constantly sends weird packets my firewall doesn't like, even when it's supposedly 'off', so I've ended up keeping it unplugged most of the time, just plugging it in when I want to use it.

I mean, I thought the NVidia Shields were kind of bad, with all the forced ad nonsense from Google. But the Cube is a heck of a lot worse.

 

[monkeyrun]

I got one of those for free, and it's still in the box.

 

[filekutter]

I've got an old, small, Echo... i never look at the screen except to check the time. Use as clock/radio by bed and never watch anything on it so, eh... I expect greedy bs from amazon and we get it. If my echo starts blaring ads at me ... well, I'll gut it and see what I can play with.

 

[cfenton]

The biggest problem I have with these things is that there's no way to opt out and they can decide how many ads to push on you. There should be a way for me to pay more upfront and have an ad free experience. No, I'm not paying for a subscription.

Amazon is particularly bad about this. I pay for Prime, but they still try to show me ads in Prime Video. It's nuts.

 

[ian191]

I am about to chuck all mine, a big reason why being the Hulu app being removed (guessing Disney no longer wants to maintain it, given the consolidation to Disney+ for all stuff). Yeah, I can use the browser, and it works OK, but requires more manual interaction instead of just being able to say, "Alexa, play King of the Hill on Hulu."

The only other big use case I get out of Alexa is the shopping list, which I know is silly too for all the privacy invasion. But I find it useful to be rummaging through my fridge and pantry and adding what I need (or when I run out).

I have noticed that the old Echo's without any screens are also doing more ad stuff lately. I have an original Echo device (the speaker on it is still great!) and often now when I interact with it, once its done doing what I ask it'll go, "Also, I wanted to let you know that there's a deal on something stupid here, would you like me to tell you more?" However, now before it gets very far, I already go, "Alexa, SHUT THE FUCK UP" -- would be hilarious if they record how much verbal abuse its getting. Either way, the idea of purchasing anything over voice only sounds scary.

Anyway, I am sure there are alternatives for things like the shopping list (for media consumption, we've just been using our iPad's in the kitchen more often), its just I got these things dirt cheap (and yeah yeah, I know, I'm the product) and its worked, but slowly they're starting to not work so well and may end up in the dumpster -- or given to a friend who just wants a screen and doesn't care about all these ads.

Enshittification, what a time to be alive.

 

[LeftCoastRusty]

Advertising improves…nothing. Absolutely nothing.

 

[Retrosal]

I've noticed the same on broadcast television. I forget which show I was watching, but during the show itself there were several consecutive ads shown in the lower-right corner of the screen about other shows on that service. And - kind of the ultimate, I guess - the same thing happened during the commercial breaks, so I was seeing ads within other ads for other things. We have apparently reached the Ad Saturation Point, and will soon cross over the Ad Event Horizon.

But at least there will be advertisements for it.

Why would anyone ever watch anything which contains an ad in a TV series, Movie or broadcast of any other kind?

 

[ian191]

Advertising improves…nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It improves their bottom-line.

Oh, you were referring to the consumer aspect? My bad

 

[fkaOld_one]

The endpoint is obvious. At some point it will become all ads, all the time. And you won’t be able to turn it off.

 

[Gern Blaanston]

The endpoint is obvious. At some point it will become all ads, all the time. And you won’t be able to turn it off.

The 3 step process
Step 1 - Turn the device off.
Step 2 - Throw it in the trash where it belongs.
Step 3 - Do not buy products from companies who do this sort of thing.

 

[effgee]

The only surprise about heavily subsidized hardware getting turned into advertising blasters is that there actually appear to be people who are surprised by this development.

If in any given deal you’re unable to spot the patsy, chances are you’re it.

 

[guyelec]

I only use my Echo Show for the Ring doorbell, it's on my desk but pushed back so as to not be in my face. Even so, their new ad campaign has totally turned me off to the technology. Alexa+ -- not interested in more adds. Found a way around some of the show ads but I can't disclose it as Amazon will then find a work around for my work around.

 

[Fatesrider]

Maybe this is just a "me" thing, but I equate anything with the adjective "Smart" in it to be pretty dumb and very invasive. The noun mostly determines how dumb, with "Phone" being at the top of the intelligence ladder and doorbell being at the bottom. If you own a smart doorbell, you're not using a brain, so please turn in your brain at the nearest recycling center.

And, there's a lot of space at the top of that intelligence ladder, while the bottom is, shall we say, overcrowded.

So OTHER than phones, I actively avoid using anything "Smart", and never picked up the addiction to the notion that "smart" devices was a good idea in the first place.

Amazon Prime is a way for us to get free shipping, since our ordering far outstrips how much we pay for Prime (three adults using the same Prime membership, with two of us able to order - it works out). But anything electronic from them, especially anything Amazon-branded and Internet connected, can DIAF as far as we're concerned.

Google's ecosystem is used to the extent of their OS in our phones, mail and search (with modifiers that kill the AI responses), and that's it.

I don't care if I'm rocking it like it's 1999. To me, that was peak for new and useful things. Portable phones that didn't cost a significant percentage of a retirement fund, global communications with family and friends, and new places to explore via the Information Superhighway. It was a Brave New World, subsequently enshitified by corporate greed and malignant, willful myopia about the future.

IMHO, in this context, being "dumb" is smarter. YMMV.

 

[SixDegrees]

The 3 step process
Step 1 - Turn the device off.
Step 2 - Throw it in the trash where it belongs.
Step 3 - Do not buy products from companies who do this sort of thing.

The dumpsters will have ads soon enough.

 

[Alexstarfire]

shocked Pikachu

 

[purfledspruce]

After AI takes most jobs away, watching ads will be the only way for most of us to earn any money. Maybe we can create an AI to watch the ads for us?

 

[Pescallunes]

Well, I'm just thrilled that my futuristic, voice-activated speaker has finally achieved its true purpose: to deliver targeted audio interruptions right into the heart of my cozy living room. Mission accomplished.

 

[darkowl]

the Ad Event Horizon.

Infinite ads. Infinite terror.

 

[Aleph0]

Advertising improves…nothing. Absolutely nothing.

One of the best vacations I've ever had was a tour of Cuba, two whole weeks without seeing any advertising. Granted there were some billboards with political slogans, but somehow I found those less intrusive than ads.

 

[SpaceCollector]

I bought one of the FireTV Cubes when they were new, and goddamn, that thing is absolutely festooned with ads. And it constantly sends weird packets my firewall doesn't like, even when it's supposedly 'off', so I've ended up keeping it unplugged most of the time, just plugging it in when I want to use it.

I mean, I thought the NVidia Shields were kind of bad, with all the forced ad nonsense from Google. But the Cube is a heck of a lot worse.

The cube is now unusable. The UI is slow even to show ads. Terrible experience

 

[freeskier93]

 

[Gibborim]

IDK, anyone who buys these smart home management devices gets what is coming to them.

 

[equals42]

I wanted to say I’m happy with my TV setup (no WiFi to TV) and AppleTV which means no ads. Then I realized that every service (YouTube TV, ESPN+, Paramount, Netflix) bombard you with ads. But at least it’s only when you’re on them.

 

[fellow_traveler]

Yeah, I can use the browser, and it works OK, but requires more manual interaction instead of just being able to say, "Alexa, play King of the Hill on Hulu."

Yeah, I ordered a Show 8 to watch videos on the can (moving up from a Samsung A55). The screen is decent and the is amazing though it's also pretty bulky. I don't remember ads so much as the "recommendations", after I'd checked all the items to not show them.
What killed it, though, is the clunky interface that ian191 describe - Alexa open browser, Alexa go to youtube - and when it goes to sleep between visits you have to start over again. I returned it after a couple weeks.
I ended up using a Samsung A9 I had. Like the A55, simplicity itself - tap screen, swipe up (no need for p/w) and there's the last video I was watching. Stereo sound isn't as rich, of course, but good enough. And no ads.

 

[elemenoh]

It’s rather like watching a product “review” video on Youtube where the reviewer got the product for free and the video includes a sponsorship segment for some other unrelated service. It’s ads within ads these days. I turn them all off and instantly hit that rather buried “not interested” option and the much easier to find unsubscribe button. (Note that YouTube doesn’t have any thumbs down voting for videos…)

 

[gravage]

I already did toss mine. I'm extremely confident that Amazon does not care and I have no doubt that clueless people will still buy them.

 

[M3PH]

Advertising is a small part of the experience, and it helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in. If customers don’t like a suggestion, they can swipe to skip to the next screen card or directly provide feedback by tapping the Information icon or pressing the screen.

Amazon deliberately misunderstanding why people buy their stuff since time began.

Like seriously fuck off with this shit. If you are using it as a picture frame the idea is to almost never have to interact it not to be force to interact with it every 30 seconds

 

[gravage]

Ads started popping up on my Echo Show 8 after not seeing any for two years. So Amazon figured out how to bypass that particular trick. I still don't see ads on my Echo Show 5 because I have it set to Night Mode 23 hours and 59 minutes of the day.

Echo Show 8 has been unplugged and I have no intention of ever using it again.

I did the same thing with night mode and mine would occasionally wake up just to show an ad and then go back into night mode. Nope.