More ads on the Roku home screen

Roku has always had a clean, simple interface. And ads.

The original layout was simple, with a single line of icons for the apps that were installed. There was a space for a banner ad at the bottom. I realize that many of you may not remember that old layout, but from the start, Roku had ads on the interface.

See? Not pretty, is it? But there is the ad at the bottom. Roku has always had ads on the home screen.

A lot of people have complained about the ads on the current home screen. They have sought ways to stop the ads, complaining that Roku has suddenly added them. People have been fussing like that since Roku went to the current home screen layout almost a decade ago. But the fact is, ads have always been on the Roku home screen. And now there are about to be more.

According to Ad Exchanger, Roku wants to have even more ads on the home screen. But "more ads" has a couple of different meanings. It doesn't mean that more space on the home screen will be used to try to sell you something. Rather, it means that Roku will offer more options to advertisers:

The goal of Roku’s budding TV hardware business is, of course, to get its software into more households, [Roku VP of global ad sales and partnerships, Kristina] Shepard said.

And with more reach comes more opportunity for advertising, she said.

Roku began transforming “Roku City” into an advertising hub in June when it allowed all brands to run ads on its home screen. This option was previously only available to media and entertainment marketers. Brands can retarget viewers who click on their ads, including off platform through Roku’s OneView DSP.

Also in June, Roku launched full-screen interactive ads called “showrooms,” which let viewers click around a virtual product catalog. It first tested its showrooms with Subaru, Shepard said, and is opening up this inventory to other verticals this quarter, including QSR and travel.

Is this a good thing? Well, maybe. Maybe not.

If it doesn't take up more screen real estate while you're using the device, then that's okay. If it doesn't delay you getting to your content after selecting it, then it's okay. If there are more ads in the screen saver, then it's okay.

It's not okay if streaming options, such as apps, are removed to make way for more real estate set aside for ads. It's not okay if you have to watch an ad after selecting your content, when previously the app just launched.

My Streaming Life has included Roku since 2010. And Roku has included ads in the home screen since 2010. This may not be a big deal. Or it could be awful. We'll have to see how it plays out.