Google TV's Uncertain Future (theverge.com) 32
Google has quietly admitted defeat in selling advertising for its smart TV platform, returning ad inventory to publishers and accepting a revenue share instead of controlling ad spots directly, according to The Verge. The policy reversal comes as Google spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Google TV without breaking even, while Amazon outspends the company on retail incentives that have already pushed Google TV sets out of Costco stores in favor of Fire TV models.
Amazon pays up to $50 per activated television to retailers and manufacturers, The Verge reported. Google TV has grown to 270 million monthly active devices worldwide since unifying Android TV and Chromecast under a single brand in 2020, but many devices operate in overseas markets that generate little revenue or run customized versions controlled by pay-TV operators. YouTube's success in the living room -- generating $9.8 billion in quarterly ad revenue and accounting for 12.5% of all US television viewing -- has reduced internal support for Google TV, with sales teams prioritizing the video platform and some YouTube executives arguing the smart TV budget should be redirected, the report adds.
Amazon pays up to $50 per activated television to retailers and manufacturers, The Verge reported. Google TV has grown to 270 million monthly active devices worldwide since unifying Android TV and Chromecast under a single brand in 2020, but many devices operate in overseas markets that generate little revenue or run customized versions controlled by pay-TV operators. YouTube's success in the living room -- generating $9.8 billion in quarterly ad revenue and accounting for 12.5% of all US television viewing -- has reduced internal support for Google TV, with sales teams prioritizing the video platform and some YouTube executives arguing the smart TV budget should be redirected, the report adds.
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Actually the opposite if we're comparing it to Amazon's FireTV platform. I'd gladly change my Fire Sticks to Android TV if I could, because there are less ads than FireOS has. The Fire Sticks I have support 10-bit h264 video, though. I haven't been able to locate an OTT hardware device that has this capability beyond them,
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I never see ads but for the featured movies or shows or whatever.
Those are literally the ads we're referring to. The tiles advertising movies and shows people aren't interested in, and other apps/streaming services they don't have. If you check screenshots from the NVidia Shield when it first came out there was no top third of the screen taken up with a rotating promotion for video content on various services that exists now. The FireOS interface on Fire Sticks and Amazon FireOS TVs is particularly bad at this, as there is the top banner area, and the area on the bottom
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Re: Who are these people demanding to see more ads (Score:2)
I got my last 4k firestick for $35 Canadian. Anything else within its realm of capability was $100.
I paid $180 on sale for my Shield Pro, and the lack of advertising was something me (and a lot of other people) felt was part of the benefit of that higher price, only to have the deal altered later on by a software update. I can install third-party interfaces at least.
Apple TV owners get nervous whenever there is talk of Apple adding ads to Apple TV specific system apps for the save reason.
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No way (Score:1)
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Not mine, thanks to ad-blocking DNS and SmartTube.
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Same here. I actually prefer Android TV over most of the other "smart" TV platforms. Yes, it's riddled with ads, but I can install an alternate launch bar and SmartTube and never see them. Actually, I tend to skip the built-in OS on the TV altogether and use an nVidia Shield since the hardware in the TV is so under powered it tends to bog down after a couple of years.
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i can't disable IPv6 on the google tv (huge android limitation). and i don't want to disable it on the router for every device, which means that the home screen can still easily get ads. switched to a different launcher and at least that's done. of course, can't get rid of freetime / prime / hulu ads
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Only if you don't go and install one of the many launchers available on the Google Play Store for free which get rid of the ads...
Google TV? (Score:2)
I was not even aware that they had branded TVs. Why would anyone want one?
Re: Google TV? (Score:2)
If you want a smart TV then Google is by far the best of the bunch. It offers the most apps and the best UI. I have a LG TV with WebOS or whatever in my room and it is awful. I don't use the smart features and the UI that I do use is still trash compared to the Google TV we have in the living room.
Re: LG TV with WebOS (Score:2)
I thought maybe it was just me.
I am so glad to learn someone else HATES the LG WebOS UI failures.
Not only is the UI shockingly bad their remote is a mess and of such poor quality that various buttons require 'Hulk Smash' level key presses.
The minutes long boot time to get the various (required) options available really puts the cherry on top.
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Not only is the UI shockingly bad their remote is a mess and of such poor quality that various buttons require 'Hulk Smash' level key presses.
My take for my device LGUT80 is that it sometimes stops listening to remote input. Sometimes I have to use the button to turn it off, and it only has one button.
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I made the mistake of buying an LG TV with WebOS.
WebOS sucks so bad that I will never again buy an LG TV, even if it does not have WebOS.
Screw LG and the WebOS that it rode in on.
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That being said, I run all mine off either Apple TV or Fire TV boxes....
For OLED, I don't think LG can be beat at this time....
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I have both the Chromecast with Google TV 4K and Fire stick 4K max.
I would say that the later is superior. Amazon actually cares about fixing bugs and making it stable.
The Google TV stick has issues with color depth with my projector and requires frequent reboots.
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Yes, I very much agree.
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Note they're not Google brand TVs, they're other brands (like Sony, TCL ,HiSense) but use Google TV as their operating system. The other main cross manufacturer OS option is Roku TV.
LG and Samsung use their own proprietary systems.
(i'm on a TCL that runs Roku. it's ok, but adjusting picture modes and all that is all through menus and fairly tedious and also somewhat limited in options)
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I wanted a 98" TV on the cheap. I got one. A TCL 98Q672G.
It happened to come with GoogleTV. I didn't "want" it, it just came with it. It isn't WebOS, which was pretty much the only criteria I had with respect to TV operating systems.
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I have a Hisense TV that has Google TV as the OS. It actually works very, very well. Its basically like having a Chromecast built into the TV and no need for a standalone box.
plain monitor (Score:2)
Annoying popups on youtube (Score:2)
They must be pushing it hard.
I Have to hit ESC every day I watch youtube to get rid of the popup for google TV.
Someday someone will write an AI-based popup killer based on your preferences and wishes to act as your gatekeeper. But then again those things could be made illegal or start to have captchas or a quiz which need to be solved to dismiss the popup. Businesses won't back down on pushing lucrative and mostly worthless products to unsuspecting customers. Why pay a subscription fee just to see cable TV
This one will be on the Graveyard before 2026 (Score:1)
Soon to be featured in (Score:2)
https://killedbygoogle.com/ [killedbygoogle.com]
My big mistake (Score:2)
I recently bought a TCL 98" TV, model 98Q672G. It has Google TV. I made the mistake of activating it. Now it wants me to log in every time I turn on the TV. Fuck that. I plan to figure out how to delete the account or similar, and never use that shit again. I assume I can "factory reset" the TV or something. We will see how it goes.
Google TV..no, same as a Roku TV..NO ! (Score:2)