Roku already serves ads through its platform, but it’s apparently also exploring the idea of showing you ads when you use third-party devices connected to its TVs.According to a recently discovered patent application Lowpass, the company is seeking to develop a system or method “for the insertion of advertising into display devices coupled to media devices via High Definition Media Interface (HDMI) connections.” This means that if you connect another streaming device or console (such as Apple TV, Chromecast, or PlayStation) to your Roku TV via HDMI, the company can still serve you ads.
In particular, Roku wants to show you ads when any content you are watching or playing on your connected third-party device is paused. In its patent, it describes several methods of how to detect whether a program or game on the screen is paused, such as receiving a pause signal from a remote control, detecting a pause icon, viewing multiple video frames and determining that the image on the screen has a segment. The time does not change and I get no audio signal from the HDMI connection.
If it works as expected, these ads won’t affect your viewing or gaming experience (a lot of), assuming you actually want to leave or do something else in the meantime. While you might want these experiences to be completely ad-free, Roku at least wants to make sure it’s serving you relevant ads. It analyzes frozen video or audio frames and uses automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to identify the content on the screen. Or it can analyze metadata to show ads relevant to what you’re playing or watching. It can also serve ads based on third-party devices connected to the TV.
as Lowpass noted that the company likely came up with the idea because manufacturers typically don’t make a lot of money from hardware sales. In fiscal 2023, Roku lost $44 million on smart TVs. Similarly, Samsung’s visual display and digital appliances division reported an operating loss of US$37.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year. Meanwhile, advertising and services generated $1.6 billion in profit for Roku. The idea could potentially make more money… if, of course, the prospect of watching ads while a show or game is paused isn’t going to put you off buying a Roku TV. However, this is just a patent for now, and it’s likely that Roku will eventually abandon it and not implement it at all.
