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Roku to insert video ads in the app’s home screen ‘Marquee’

Pictured: Alap Naik Desai
By Alap Naik Desai
April 29, 2024
Featured image for Roku to insert video ads in the app’s home screen ‘Marquee’

Roku has indicated that it will be adding video ads to the home screen. The streaming platform hasn’t categorically denied these ads won’t be full-screen promotional messages. Moreover, the duration, and frequency of these ads remain a mystery.

Roku devices to stream ads on the home screen

Roku has devices that act as gateways to streaming platforms. These devices are undoubtedly quite affordable. Now Roku is trying to push its revenue by streaming ads to Roku devices.

During its quarterly earnings conference call on Thursday, Roku reportedly boasted it had a Roku device inside 81.6 million households. Part of the presentation was dedicated to ideas that would boost Roku’s revenue in the current year and beyond.

Needless to say, pushing more advertisements to Roku device owners was an obvious strategy. Roku CEO Anthony Wood offered a glimpse of what the company is planning for its consumers. Wood has indicated that Roku intends to embed video ads on its home screen.

“But to give you some examples of the kinds of things we’re looking at on the home screen, on the home screen today, there’s the premier video app we called the Marquee, and that traditionally has been a static ad. We’re going to add a video to that ad. So that will be the first video ad that we add to the home screen. That will be a big change for us.”

What’s strange about the statement is that Roku does not have anything that’s officially called a “Marquee” on the home screen. It is possible that Wood could be referring to a new addition to the home screen, which would have video ads.

Roku graduating to video ads could worsen the user experience

Roku hasn’t indicated how big this Marquee would be. Moreover, there’s no mention of the number of ads, their duration, or their frequency.

Roku does not charge any subscription fees to use Roku devices. The Roku Channel too, doesn’t charge admission fees. Customers merely pay upfront for a Roku streaming device.

Roku’s competitor Amazon plays full-screen ads automatically when users turn on their Fire TV. Some Roku device owners have reportedly raised concerns about ads cluttering and impairing their streaming experience. There’s a possibility that Roku might replicate Amazon’s ad delivery method, Wood’s comment hinted,

“We’re also testing other types of video ad units, looking at other experiences we can add to the home screen that would be where we can innovate more video advertising. So that’s something we’re looking at.”

For the most part, Roku has remained loyal to statics ads. The company tactfully placed these ads within the UI and apps. However, now the company is graduating to video ads, and by the looks of it, this could just be the beginning.