Security News > 2020 > September > Who watches the watchers? Samsung does so it can fling ads at owners of its smart TVs

Samsung brags to advertisers that "First screen ads", seen by all users of its Smart TVs when they turn on, are 100 per cent viewable, audience targeted, and seen 400 times per TV per month.

"Dear Samsung, why are you showing Ads on my Smart TV without my consent? I didn't agree to this in the privacy settings but I keep on getting this, why?" said a user on Samsung's TV forum, adding last week that "There is no mention of advertising on any of their brand new boxes".

Samsung's Tom Focetta, VP Ad Sales and Operations in the US, said in an interview: "Our platform is built on the largest source of TV data from more than 50 million smart TVs. And we have amassed over 60 per cent of the US ACR footprint." Focetta added that ACR data is "Not sold, rented or distributed" but used exclusively by Samsung to target advertising.

A "Roadblock" is defined as "100 per cent ownership of first screen ad impressions across all Samsung TVs". According to a Samsung support, quoted by flatpanelshd: "In general, the banner cannot be deactivated in the Smart Hub.".

Samsung's solution is not only the first screen ads mentioned above, but also that "ACR data can reveal which audiences in a given household have seen your brand... through partnerships with the right tech stack to target and serve ads across all connected screens, advertisers who cannot reach an audience on the big screen can reach them on the other devices they are using."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/09/30/samsung_smart_tv_ads/