It seems that LG has discovered the television as the ultimate billboard. At least that’s what you might conclude after witnessing the latest update of River OS.
Of course it was coming, someone had to (dare to) take the first step. LG has dared to do just that. The latest update of their smart TV operating system River OS injects ads in various places. Obviously adapted to the profile of the individual viewer. Incidentally: the latest version of River OS is not yet available, but is expected sometime next year.
LG is also not averse to commercial content on its devices. WebOS 6, for example, also features that great technology.
Start of a lot of misery?
The problem, of course, is that no one is really happy with those embedded ads. If only LG would provide the TVs for free or for a fraction of the price. But no, that’s obviously not happening. The question remains as to what the next step in terms of ad injections will be. It is no public secret that Microsoft also seems to be quite willing. Until now, any link to commercial products in, for example, a Windows start menu or start screen, has resulted in a storm of protest. But just like that TV, a huge number of offices still have a Windows PC running. And that means potentially billions of viewers for – let’s say – a prominent ad on a login screen or desktop.
The technology is there, especially in the upcoming Windows 11 with support for widgets. Would they dare to do it? Time will tell. But don’t be surprised if advertisers start to intrude much more into the hitherto almost sacred private lives of consumers. Expect ads on your smart radio, smart refrigerator, connected oven, media player and so on.
Buying off the ads won’t be possible, as it yields far too little compared to pushed ads.