Samsung smart TVs caught inserting unwanted ads into video apps

[Himanshu Arora]

Just a day after it was discovered that its smart TVs are potentially eavesdropping on users and sharing the collected information, Samsung is facing a new wave of complaints, this time about interrupting advertisements.

Several users of Samsung smart TVs are reporting that their television sets are inserting ads, several times an hour, into their own, locally-stored content. “Every movie I play 20-30 minutes in it plays the Pepsi ad, no audio but crisp clear ad. It has happened on 6 movies today,” a user reported on Reddit.

Although reports about these unwanted ads first surfaced on a subreddit for the media streaming app Plex, Australian subscribers of pay TV service Foxtel have also been facing the issue.

While Plex said that it had nothing to do with the ads, “this absolutely should not be happening and is being escalated immediately,” a Foxtel employee wrote on the company's forums.

Accepting the blame, Samsung's Australian division said this was due to an error that occurred as part of a recent software update that was not intended for the Australian market, adding that the issue has now been rectified. However, there was no comment on the problem beyond the Australian experience.

Meanwhile, some users were able to disable the ads by rejecting a Yahoo privacy policy in their TV set's settings, something which can be done by pressing Menu on your Samsung Remote, scrolling to Smart Hub -> Terms & Policy -> Yahoo Privacy Policy option, and then scrolling to and disabling the 'I disagree with the Yahoo Privacy Notice' option.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/59730-samsung-smart-tvs-caught-inserting-unwanted-ads-video.html

 

[dkbroadband]

That's more or less where this whole thing is going...More Big Brother all around, or as some are saying: "It's simply to improve the User Experience"....Call it what you wanna call -- I say it's wrong.

 

[Guest]

Just give me a dumb TV and I'll connect a Roku, Chromecast, or whatever device I want to make it smart.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it'll ruin their eyes? Not to mention give them stiff necks if they watch a tennis match.

 

[SNGX1275]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it's not good for their eyes?

The center channel speaker is also placed off center.

 

[VitalyT]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it'll ruin their eyes? Not to mention give them stiff necks if they watch a tennis match.

I'd say the brain is a far bigger issue, it gets steril faster than one goes blind

 

[Paul Deemer]

I gotta watch enough commercials as it is. Now advertisers are going to show up in my movies too? Sorry not gonna happen! I'll just purchase a Dumb TV! Sorry Samsung you went too far this time.

 

[Guest]

Surprisingly, this one isn't Samsung's fault.

"Meanwhile, some users were able to disable the ads by rejecting a Yahoo privacy policy in their TV set's settings"

Yahoo's apps are invasive at the best of times. I've often wondered how they survived into the modern era after falling off the collective radar of relevance. They've taken the tactics of malware purveyors - forcing and injecting advertising into content that they've got nothing to do with.

But why am I not surprised.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it'll ruin their eyes? Not to mention give them stiff necks if they watch a tennis match.

Maybe you should email them... Sy0430.him@samsung.com or maybe its Sy0430.Nm@samsung.com it is hard to read. Regardless, they should be informed.

 

[Lionvibez]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it'll ruin their eyes? Not to mention give them stiff necks if they watch a tennis match.

That is an LED TV not a old tube tv. Its not shooting radiation directly into your eyeballs, I'm not sure that old myth applies on current technology.

However I do agree they are way too close to a tv of that size.

Anything over 60' requires you to be 8 feet from the TV at a minimum.

 

[Paul Deemer]

Why are those two clowns in the picture sitting so close to such a big TV grinning like Cheshire cats, don't they know it'll ruin their eyes? Not to mention give them stiff necks if they watch a tennis match.

That is an LED TV not a old tube tv. Its not shooting radiation directly into your eyeballs, I'm not sure that old myth applies on current technology.

However I do agree they are way too close to a tv of that size.

Anything over 60' requires you to be 8 feet from the TV at a minimum.

They will be 8ft away when they lean back against the head rest to watch the movie. Jealous? ;-)

 

[Lionvibez]

They will be 8ft away when they lean back against the head rest to watch the movie. Jealous? ;-)

Considering I own a 64` Samsung Plasma no not really

 

[Guest]

This was due to "an error"? (Yeah right.)

 

[Paul Deemer]

They will be 8ft away when they lean back against the head rest to watch the movie. Jealous? ;-)

Considering I own a 64` Samsung Plasma no not really

Well that a lot bigger than 64. I'm jealous.

 

[amstech]

60"-70" HDTV's are pretty cheap now, even name brand ones.
Still, my 1080p projector makes them all look....small. Hehehe hahaha.

 

[Lionvibez]

Well that a lot bigger than 64. I'm jealous.

It's not much bigger maybe 75" and I prefer plasma to LCD/LED for image quality so they can keep it.

Also the reason that seems so big is the angle of the shot and how close they are sitting to the TV. At the recommended distance for a tv of that size it will seem normal.

 

[dkbroadband]

Just give me a dumb TV and I'll connect a Roku, Chromecast, or whatever device I want to make it smart.

Amen to that! I have both - Apple TV & Roku, not to mention Chromecast. My smart Tv is an LG, but I'm sure it's not far off from Samsung, and it will probably act the same way as the above mentioned Samsung.