Despite what its actual customers say, for several years now, Samsung has believed that putting ads on their customers’ smart TVs is a really good idea. The idea really delighted the company when they first started slapping ads on smart TV home screens back in 2012, and customers remain exactly as not thrilled about it now as they were then.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is looking to sell more ads on its televisions, and will upgrade software on TVs that are already out there to make them serve up more ads.
If you’re wondering how much money there is in serving up ads to TV customers, a source told the WSJ that last year the company took in $20 million to $30 million from ad displays on TVs, but the advertising unit doesn’t actually make a profit.
Samsung takes in about $24 billion selling televisions every year, selling about 50 million sets annually, but why leave things there when they could keep earning money from a customer’s TV after it’s been sold? Samsung also earns extra money through partnerships with streaming services. They get a cut of subscription revenue from Samsung customers who use Netflix, for example.
Last year, customers accused Samsung of inserting pop-up ads in a third-party streaming app, which the company said was an issue only in Australia even though customers worldwide reported the problem.
Samsung Adds More Ads to Its TVs [Wall Street Journal]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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