Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform • Hacker News Board

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#141

Post by simooooo » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

burnte wrote: post #68

snarfy wrote: post #29

Samsung really needs to just flush their entire software division. It's all garbage. Their android software is a frustrating joke. Tizen is a hot mess. Every issue I've ever had with a samsung product was with their software, and it's why I've sworn off the brand as a whole.

They make amazing phones, but yes, their software overlay is trash, IMO. I have a Samsung TV too and don't have it connected to the network so I don't have to deal with the smart TV crap.

Hardware is nice but the software is a minefield of dark UI patterns. I think my S8+ had 10 or more prompts I had to reject to not have my data absolutely scooped up. Still found it syncin photos to some cloud service

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#142

Post by sunstone » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:16 PM UTC

munchbunny wrote: post #77

junon wrote: post #27

I had one of those TVs. The ads show up in the menu bar. I called them and told them I paid over a thousand dollars for this TV and do not want ads. They said they'd be happy to help me disable my internet connection. I was so dumbfounded at the petty response that I simply hung up. Lost a customer for life. I will never again buy a Samsung product.

This, and the built-in voice assistant, is why I have a blanket rule that the smart TV will never touch the internet. If I want to stream things, that can go through the gaming PC that's right next to the TV.

I do the same except I use a small fanless NUC running Linux Mint which I control with the top of the line Logitech blue tooth "thumb ball" mouse. Aggravations vanquished.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#143

Post by gruez » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

manuelabeledo wrote: post #19

I keep seeing people who argue that TVs would be notably "more expensive" if they didn't come with ads. Let's say that the average Samsung TV costs $1,000, ad revenue per person is around $30 a year, and the average lifespan of a TV is 10 years. I own a Samsung TV since 2016. I think they may have pushed 5 firmware updates since then. There is no way I can be convinced that Samsung needs to increase the price of TVs…

>Also, if that's the difference, why can't I just pay more and opt out?

Because people who are willing to pay to get rid of ads are even more valuable to advertisers. If the average lifetime revenue per user is $300, the average revenue per user who wants to pay to get rid of ads might be $500. If that's the case the manufacturer would need to charge you $500 just to be even.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#144

Post by Abishek_Muthian » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

Samsung M series phones from India are essentially subsidized for Ads, they have all major International data hoarder apps, Indian equivalents and their Samsung equivalents.

Apps from Samsung's app store masquerades like security updates and constantly prompts to install.

I made the mistake of buying them for my parents, even though they use their phone just for WhatsApp like most Indian parents, each of their phones generates ~2000 DNS requests/week which I'm dutifully sinking into PiHole.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#145

Post by gruez » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:23 PM UTC

secondcoming wrote: post #82

colejohnson66 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a TCL Roku TV and thankfully the only ads are on the home screen where you select the input or app.[a] I can’t imagine watching video from an input and the TV deciding I want an ad on top of my movie. [a] I don’t delude myself into thinking this won’t change, but so far, I can just tune out (no pun intended) the ad on the side. Not to mention that the ads are of shows and movies, not products (which would be…

There are specs for in-stream video advertising [0], as in, the provider injects a 'commercial break' into whatever you're streaming. These cannot be ad-blocked. [0] https://www.spotx.tv/resources/blog/spotxer/server-side-ad-i...

They can still be mitigated. At the very least you can blank the video/audio while the ads are on. Personally I'd just get the pirated version, which has the ads cut out for me. If you already paid for the service I don't see anything morally wrong with that.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#146

Post by yvdriess » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:31 PM UTC

searchableguy wrote: post #63

Macha wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify reads a webcam to hide ads when the viewer is not looking at the app? Or it pauses ads when the app is muted?

when you lower the volume too much, it pauses the ads.

It doesn't for me on their PC client. What platform?

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#147

Post by DivisionSol » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:33 PM UTC

hda2 wrote: post #109

searchableguy wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

when you lower the volume too much, it pauses the ads.

What the fuck. I remember the "Please drink a verification can" joke that was floating around a few years back. Didn't think we'd be here so soon. Can you just use an old headphone with an audio slider and mute the ad that way? Either way, Spotify is now on my list of nope services.

Wanted to comment on this. I see this very differently than the Samsung situation. Spotify provides music for ads, unless you pat the subscription. I am not offended that Spotify would do this for their “free”/ad-supported users.

I pay for Spotify, I get no ads. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#148

Post by ijustwanttovote » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:38 PM UTC

I use a pi hole and it has been blocking my samsung tv ads for the past 6 months.

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#149

Post by jmholla » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:40 PM UTC

null_object wrote: post #9

skizm wrote: post #4

I wonder if there is a market for dumb TVs. They basically don't exist today. Closest thing I could get was a Dell conference room monitor, which is $1200 for a 55 inch, and $4500 for a 75 inch. A far cry from the $700 I spent on my current 75 inch TV, but I'm strongly considering it.

There are brands - such as Loewe and Bang&Olufsen - who respect the end-user, and make fantastic TVs. But people generally don’t want to pay the premium amount that they cost.

I believe both of those brands can only be bought/received in their relevant stores of which there are few (my local Bang & Olufsen is permanently closed and I'm lucky to have had a local one) or none (in the case of Loewe which is only in Europe).

Re: Samsung Ads – Demand-Side Platform

#150

Post by lostlogin » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 5:42 PM UTC

junon wrote: post #32

mattnewton wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s getting harder and harder to. I ended up buying a projector and a screen, large TVs are pretty much all infected with this kind of “smart os” and I don’t want a tv constantly asking to be connected to the internet so it can download adware.

This. When I was in California I tried to find a 4k TV that was "dumb". It was impossible.

I’ve been contemplating a computer monitor and a sound bar.

I would prefer to have a remote with on/off and volume but I guess I can use my phone for most of that.