Amazon Fire TV owners bombarded with full screen ads

Amazon is shoving Fire TVs with more advertisements. You’ll be forced to watch extra banner ads every time you switch on the device.

Off late, if you’ve experienced pesky ads popping up instead of the standard home screen the moment you switch on your Fire TV device, you’re not alone.

Amazon has confirmed that all its Fire TVs made in 2016 or later will get full-screen advertisements that will play as soon as you start the device.

While Amazon wants to use these auto-play ads to promote its content, these are similar to what we see on Google TV and Android TV platforms. The critical difference, however, is that in Amazon’s case, you are forced to watch the ad as it appears every time the device wakes up. On the other platforms, the advertisements run when you click or hover on them.

Confirming the update, Amazon told Cord Cutters that “a short content preview” will help customers “browse and discover more content they’ll want to watch.” While Amazon feels that this will help users find more content to watch, users aren’t amused with Amazon’s reasoning.

This is not the first time a brand has forced its customers to watch more ads, nor will it be the last time. However, in various other cases, users benefitted somehow. For example, Telly gives customers free LED TVs for watching extra targeted ads. Unfortunately, Amazon isn’t offering any perks to its users.

How to turn off ads on Amazon Fire TV

Amazon

If you’re not a fan of these unskippable advertisements you’re forced to watch, there are some workarounds to avoid them, unfrtunately you just cant turm them off totally. We’re listing some of these methods we’ve tried or have been shared by various users.

The first method works on devices with new remotes and has a “Home button.” Click on the home button as soon as you notice the ad, and you will be taken to the home page.

Alternatively, you can follow the below steps to stop video ads from loading automatically every time by default.

• Go to Settings
• Then Preferences
• Navigate to Featured content
• Manually turn off Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Audio Autoplay

Remember, this only replaces the video ads with a static image, which is still manageable compared to a full-blown music video with loud music welcoming you every time.