At this point, in the world of Smart TV, it is insane that some brands continue to launch televisions with operating systems with few functions or whose experience is simply disastrous. That’s where Amazon and Google have tapped into a need with products like Chromecast and Fire TV.
As many people have noticed and I have mentioned in my analysis of the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max of 2023, one of the problems you encounter with these products is the amount of advertising they serve you, especially Amazon.
The new Fire TV, as well as previous models with the latest software update, integrates more advertising, including some full-screen videos that play when there is no activity and you are not using it.
They are video advertisements for series and movies from platforms such as Amazon’s own, Prime Video, or Disney+, at least from those that I have been able to see.
The reality is that, although it is not mentioned anywhere and is vox populi, the advertising of these players is what allows Amazon to sell them so cheap or in those offers that seem impossible. And they are. It is not normal for a player like this to cost less than 40 euros on Black Friday and other major shopping events like Prime Day.
Amazon, as well as Google, use integrated advertising as a way to subsidize the price of these players, which are so cheap that it is normal to raise an eyebrow when we see those prices.
This advertising is intrusive, but… Does it really bother you considering what it offers?
If players like the Fire TV Stick and Chromecast are compared en masse, it is because the operating and “smart” systems of the Smart TV brands are so bad that it is preferable to spend more money on one of them rather than deal with that bad software.
But they offer so much, such as the possibility of installing applications of all kinds (as they are based on Android), that integrate your favorite virtual assistant or even take it with you when you go on a trip to have all your platforms and even a VPN to access abroad , which is simply worth seeing some ads that you can remove by pressing a button on the remote control.
The story would be totally different if this advertising were integrated into the reproduction of content, that is, if Amazon decided to insert advertising in the middle of a movie or series that you are watching on a platform that is not even Amazon’s. I’m sure some advertising executive has come up with this idea and—for now—some hero or heroine one step above has stopped them.
If it’s free, you are the product. If it’s very cheap, you are also the product
One of those phrases that has accompanied the world of technology for decades, which is overused, but which is totally true, is “if it’s free, you are the product.” Well, if you are paying but the price is too cheap, assume that you are also the product.
The economy of Fire TV Stick and Chromecast It has never made sense. They are products that you can buy extremely cheap and that not only are not closed to the platforms of their manufacturers, they allow you to install competitors. From a purely economic point of view it makes no sense.
In early 2023 Amazon announced that They had already sold more than 200 million Fire TV devices, both players and televisions with integrated Fire TV. It is not a cheap platform to maintain unless you find a way to earn income. And Amazon, although it may not seem like it, is one of the giants of internet advertising.
It is normal and even understandable that Amazon wants to recover the investment in these products. But until when will users say enough is enough? Streaming platform fatigue is real and although advertising is something that, it seems, we are willing to live with, everyone has a limit.
