Samsung is packing more ads into its smart TV interface
Samsung wants to be more than just a hardware company, which is why it’s strengthening its longstanding flirtation with the ad business. The Wall Street Journal claims that the manufacturer, struggling to turn a profit in TVs, will increase the number of tile ads that it displays in the menu bar of its smart TVs. These small squares are currently only available in the US, although the paper believes that Europe will be added to the program in the near future. In addition, older models will get the ads delivered to the home screen thanks to a future software update.
It’s believed that Samsung has turned to Lee Won-jin, a former Google executive, to help spearhead its push into advertising. Much like its mobile division, its TV arm is struggling to make a profit on devices in an age when 40-inch-plus displays can be bought for a few hundred dollars. Then again, it’s likely that people, resentful of paying big bucks for a premium TV set that becomes yet another ad platform, will opt for a cheaper device that doesn’t come with that risk.
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