Long gone are the heady days of the early internet when monetization and ad revenue had yet to sully the pure waters of the web. Content on today’s internet is funded almost exclusively by advertising dollars, and streaming media services are not exempt from their taint. YouTube, one of the first video providers to run ads, started showing them in its videos back in 2007. Just last winter, we learned thatAmazon would be running in-video adson its Prime Video service. And now,Rokuis adding video ads to its platform as well.
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How intrusive will it be
The news comes from Roku’s April 25 Q1 earnings call where Roku CEO Anthony Wood outlined how he plans to boost ad revenue by placing video ads on Roku’s home screen (via9to5Google). Wood did not mention plans to place ads in the content of other channels users may have installed, but he did say “We’re also testing other types of video ad units, looking at other experiences we can add to the home screen.”
The push to monetize the home screen comes in the face of continuing financial losses for Roku, and an advertising market just starting to rebound from a two-year slump. And, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of video ads on Roku. Earlier this month, reporting emerged on a patent application filed by Roku that would inject ads into any device connected to one of its TVs, and in October, news broke of plans for Roku and Spotify to collaborate on placing video ads on Spotify’s Roku app.
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