THERE is really no escaping adverts these days – unless you switch off from tech completely.
Whether it’s YouTube banning ad-blockers, or Netflix offering ad-supported subscriptions, there’s always a Big Tech company trying to monopolise your eyeballs – and Amazon is the latest to up its efforts.
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According to a number of Fire TV owners, a new update from Amazon has introduced full screen video ads that play automatically when the telly has been turned on.
They require no user input at all.
Customers are furious and are contemplating whether they need to buy new TVs to escape the ads.
Previously, Amazon only showed half-screen ads after Fire TVs were switched on, according to customer reports.
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“Can you tell me why whenever I turn on my Amazon Fire TV the Home Screen now defaults to full screen ADVERTISEMENTS?,” one customer wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Were the half screen ads not big enough? Is there a way to opt out of this?
“Forced advertising is why I quit cable, do I need to get a new TV, too?”
Another tweeted: “The latest frustrating thing about my Fire TV is that the Amazon ads at the top automatically fill the screen and start playing when I turn the device on…
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“Didn’t realise how good we had it before smart devices. I may need to just buy a big monitor.”
Fortunately, there is a way to opt out of them.
How to switch off automatic ads on Fire TV
Go to the Settings > Preferences > Featured Content menu on your Fire TV and set both autoplay options to Off if you want both video and audio ads to be disabled on the Home screen.
If you prefer, you can set only the audio option to off to have the ads play silent video instead.
“I stopped this on my Firestick 4k by disabling auto play (video and sound) as well as personalised ads,” one user said in a Reddit post.
Another Reddit user replied, saying: “Disabling auto play did the trick for me as well.
“One of the worst things Amazon has ever done to any of their devices.”
What is Alexa?
If you’ve never heard of Alexa, here’s what you need to know…
- Alexa is an “intelligent” personal assistant built by Amazon.
- You can find her on several different devices, including Amazon’s Echo speakers.
- Alexa responds to voice commands, and can talk back to you.
- She can perform thousands of different tasks, including telling you about the news or weather.
- But she can do more complex things too, like ordering a pizza or arranging an Uber taxi pick-up.
- To activate Alexa, you need to say “Alexa” to an Amazon Echo speaker.
- Because she’s powered by artificial intelligence, Alexa is constantly getting smarter.
- Alexa will also get more used to your voice, and better understand what you want her to do over time.
