While scrolling around the Amazon Fire TV’s menus, you may have noticed that new banner ads have creeped their way into the device’s interface. The ‘Apps’ section and ‘Games’ section will now occasionally display relatively large ads at the top of the screen. These ads are different from the home screen banner ads in that they’re a bit larger and contain videos. Interacting with the ads, by moving the cursor over the buy/get buttons, will cause the video in the banner to autoplay. The video will immediately pause when you move off of the ad. Thankfully, like is the case with the home screen banner ads, pressing the right button on the remote to enter the Apps or Games section does not place your cursor into the banner ad, so you can navigate your library without interacting with the ad.
The ads have been creeping in. Very distressing.
I am not amused. I liked the Fire TV for what it does(side loading Kodi and Prime vidoes), what I don’t like is the ads that play right before you watch a show. I am paying for amazon prime. Not Ads. If i wanted ads then I would have stuck with Hulu. Now the Ads are starting to hog a portion of the tv screen. I get what Amazon is doing and where they are inevitably going. But I personally don’t like it. I like a simple clean look, not a page full of ads and “Click here to buy a bunch of krap!!” buttons.
I pay a bit more on Hulu which does in almost all ads. It’s really quite good though their site organization is really confusing. The original Amazon content is very good and Prime keeps my Fire TV away from the closet. The ads have become so annoying that I have largely switched to the Apple TV 4 for everything else. The Fire TV is a great player but I have this ominous feeling that ads are simply too lucrative to pass on for Amazon. Perhaps every media will eventually have them. They ruined TV and now the whole internet has become a big commercial.
A banner ad to help subsidize the cost of the box is one thing. Audio/video ads is where I draw the line.
Is it really an ad though? It’s highlighting some apps that may interest you and gives you a video preview that you can watch if you think it may interest you. Just as the banner ads highlight some content that may interest you.
If they were showing actual ads for products like Pepsi, Macdonalds and the likes then fine but when it’s basically a discovery element I’m not sure it’s an issue.
I also don’t mind the occasional ad for content before playing stuff, it’s not like it happens all the time (watching season 2 of Bosch it played one through the whole season) and sometimes it’s for something which I wouldn’t have watched but the trailer has me check it out. There can be so much content across all the services and a image and small blurb isn’t always the best for deciding and I appreciate some help choosing something to watch in future as long as it’s not too often, too long or gets too repeative
He’s an Ad. SHOOT HIM.
Maybe they could put a way to control, manage or disable the ads in settings if your a prime member. I asked @amazonfire if they could do such.
pihole blocks these ads.
Do you have the exact dnsmasq entries it uses or even just the blocklist source? If it’s possible to block these stupid banners just like the otas I think this site should investigate and report on it.
My fire tv isn’t rooted, but using this method may reveal the relevant DNS requests: https://github.com/Free-Software-for-Android/AdAway/wiki/LogDNS
For now I think I’ll try using router level adblocking which would be the same as a ‘pihole’ without the $35+ middleman.
Paying for ads………….wonderful.
Any way to use root access to disable the ads?
I am only receiving the video adds on 1 of my 3 Fire TVs. They all have the latest software version. Does anyone know what might cause it to show on one and not others? The one that shows the ads is wired directly into our router. The other two are on Powerline adapters.