There’s no escaping smart TV ads, as Google TV adds them into its once ad-free ‘apps-only’ mode

Yet another ads story

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Own aGoogleTV device and are a fan of its ‘apps-only’ mode that simplifies the smart TV menu? Then you may be about to see more ads where there were none before.

Asreported by FlatpanelsHD, there have been reports of Google TV devices in a number of European countries, including Germany, Sweden, Netherlands and more, that have noticed large banner ads appearing in the ‘apps-only’ view of the home screen – a previously ad-free screen.

It’s worth noting that these banner ads have been in the ‘apps-only’ mode for some time in North America, but have now made their way to Google TV devices, which include some of thebest TVssuch as theSony Bravia 8,TCL C855andPhilips OLED809, to devices in Europe.

FlatpanelsHD reports that the introduction of ads actually pushes the app icons in the ‘app-only’ mode almost off the screen, despite no sign of recommendations like you’d find on Google TV’s standard home menu.

It’s another instance of ads invading Google TV, withunskippable ads appearing on Google TV’s free streaming channelsin the summer. But it’s not just Google TV that has jumped on the ad bandwagon.

LG recently introduced screensaver ads to its OLED TVs, such as theLGG4, and then weeks later followed this up withscreensaver ads on older OLED models as well,such as the LG C3. Thankfully, there were are ways to turn these ads off, but just how long will that last?

Ads, ads, ads

Ads outrage has become a regular feature here at TechRadar, especially in the world of streaming and TVs. in 2024 alone,Roku TV has had plans to introduce video ads to its home screen,Amazon Fire TV has tested full-screen screensaver adsand on the streaming side, thebest streaming serviceshave raised prices for ad-free tiers or placed ads into more standard tiers, withAmazon announcing its Prime Video service will feature more ads in movies and TV shows in 2025.

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The point is that ads are everywhere. With broadcast TV, we expected them at different intervals throughout TV shows, but I don’t think we expected them to featurequiteas heavily as they do on devices that we pay for, be that TVs, streaming devices likeAmazonFire Sticks orRokuTV sticks, or streaming services – especially when we’d initially paid not to have them.

The fact that these ads are now on what was once an ad-free section of Google TV shows that ads are here to stay and we’re likely to see more of them infiltrating more devices soon. It’s just a matter of how intrusive they’ll be.

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James is the TV Hardware Staff Writer at TechRadar. Before joining the team, he worked at a major UK based AV retailer selling TV and audio equipment, where he was either telling customers the difference between OLED and QLED or being wowed by watching a PS5 run on the LG 65G2. When not writing about the latest TV tech, James can be found gaming, reading, watching rugby or coming up with another idea for a novel.

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