'Ads Are Popping Up On the Fridge and It Isn't Going Over Well'

'Ads Are Popping Up On the Fridge and It Isn't Going Over Well' (msn.com) 57 The Wall Street Journal reports: Walking into his kitchen, Tim Yoder recoiled at a message on his refrigerator door: "Shop Samsung water filters." Yoder, a supply-chain manager in Chicago, owns a Samsung Electronics Family Hub fridge. He paid $1,400 for an appliance that came with a 32-inch screen on the door that allows him to control other Samsung gadgets, pull up recipes or stream music. But since last fall, it's been intermittently serving up ads, part of a pilot program being tested on some of Samsung's smart fridges sold in the U.S. The response? Not warm. "I guess this is another place for somebody to shove an ad in your face," said the 47-year-old Yoder, recalling the first time he noticed one... The ads are only on certain Family Hub fridges that have screens and internet connectivity. They run as a rectangular banner at the bottom — part of a widget that also shows news, the weather and a calendar. Samsung declined to say how long the pilot might last or whether it would end. The firm recently unveiled a "Screens Everywhere" initiative that also includes washers, dryers and ovens.... Samsung launched the banner-type fridge ads that come as part of the widget via an October software update. In a footnote of a news release at the time, Samsung pledged to "serve contextual or non-personal ads" and respect data privacy. The banner ads can be turned off in settings. Samsung said the purpose of the pilot is to explore whether ads relevant to home chores can be useful to owners, and that overall pushback has been negligible. The "turn-off" rate for the pilot ad program remains in the bottom single-digit range, it said... While owners can turn off the banner ads, doing so eliminates the widget altogether, a bummer for Brian Bosworth, a media-industry engineer who liked the feature. Bosworth thinks it's wrong to take away the new feature as a condition. Wanting to keep the widget but not the ads, the 49-year-old in Edgewater, Md., made sure his home router's ad-blocking software extended to his fridge. He hasn't seen another since. One 27-year-old plans to return his refrigerator after the entire display "lit up with a full-screen ad for Apple TV's sci-fi show Pluribus," according to the article. The all-caps ad beckoned him "with an oft-used refrain directed at protagonist Carol Sturka: 'We're Sorry We Upset You, Carol.'" Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the article. The ads are only on certain Family Hub fridges that have screens and internet connectivity. They run as a rectangular banner at the bottom — part of a widget that also shows news, the weather and a calendar. Samsung declined to say how long the pilot might last or whether it would end. The firm recently unveiled a "Screens Everywhere" initiative that also includes washers, dryers and ovens.... Samsung launched the banner-type fridge ads that come as part of the widget via an October software update. In a footnote of a news release at the time, Samsung pledged to "serve contextual or non-personal ads" and respect data privacy. The banner ads can be turned off in settings. Samsung said the purpose of the pilot is to explore whether ads relevant to home chores can be useful to owners, and that overall pushback has been negligible. The "turn-off" rate for the pilot ad program remains in the bottom single-digit range, it said... While owners can turn off the banner ads, doing so eliminates the widget altogether, a bummer for Brian Bosworth, a media-industry engineer who liked the feature. Bosworth thinks it's wrong to take away the new feature as a condition. Wanting to keep the widget but not the ads, the 49-year-old in Edgewater, Md., made sure his home router's ad-blocking software extended to his fridge. He hasn't seen another since. One 27-year-old plans to return his refrigerator after the entire display "lit up with a full-screen ad for Apple TV's sci-fi show Pluribus," according to the article. The all-caps ad beckoned him "with an oft-used refrain directed at protagonist Carol Sturka: 'We're Sorry We Upset You, Carol.'" Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the article. What did he expect? (Score:5, Insightful) Don't but anything with a screen that doesn't need it. Re: (Score:2) I’m waiting for the day when they forget to renew a domain and porn ads start showing up. Re: (Score:2) Or someone hacks Samsung's ad server and uploads an image for which simple possession is against the law. Re: What did he expect? (Score:2) We are in the Max Headroom world. Only way out would be a nasty way. Re: (Score:2) He didn't expect ads. He thought the device would act as a home smart hub. If you're trying to avoid ads and vendor-lock in, your only realistic choice is to roll your own with a cheap TV and a Raspberry Pi. Or just go old fashioned with a magnetic whiteboard. Re: What did he expect? (Score:2) When does a tech company not infest everything with ads? Thatâ(TM)s the point of tech - seek rent everywhere Re: (Score:1) Define the "need". A screen is just a screen. It enables functionality that isn't possible without a screen. The question you need to ask is if you value that functionality or not. Dismissing it because of the device type is sort of the definition of being a luddite. Just telling people to not buy something with a screen is not only not going to influence them, it's going to make them dismiss you as just another old man yelling at clouds. Also you're entire point is treating the symptom not the disease. Do yo Re: (Score:3, Insightful) If you're buying a online computer you can't control what is installed on it, you should expect it to not work for you. Re: (Score:2) A better thing to rail against, more than either screen or ads, would be network. I can understand devices that have software features, but why would they need to be on the internet? At most, they should be manageable from a home console that handles the switch that they're connected to, if there is actually software that needs to run on them. But why would they need internet access? Re: (Score:2) So they can serve ads and spy on you, of course. Re: (Score:2) Just telling people to not buy something with a screen is not only not going to influence them, it's going to make them dismiss you as just another old man yelling at clouds. Maybe if we were talking about screens in cars, where it's a different way of getting information and interacting with the vehicle controls, but this is a refrigerator. It has one job - to keep your food cold, and nowhere in that mode of operation is a ginormous display part of the equation. It's like putting a margarita mixer on a toilet. You could, but you shouldn't. Re: (Score:2) The only thing about a "smart fridge" that I can imagine is it having internal cameras that show one what's inside, so that one can then create a shopping list. Of course, it's nothing that can't be done by simply opening the fridge, inspecting all the items and then putting together a list, but if a fridge has to have special bells & whistles, that's what would strike me. But certainly no screens! Then if it had a way of forwarding those images to the main home server, that would help However, even Re: (Score:2) Good point. Those things tend to add hundreds of dollars to the price, if not the cost, of a device. There was a time when LED/LCD readouts were there for some relevant and useful, but limited functionality. Nowadays, screens are supposedly cheap enough to replace them, but then again, so is software that they then use, and then feature creep takes over Re: (Score:3) Also, avoid Samsung appliances. They have a reputation as junk. I had a Samsung range that broke more than once. The second time the repair parts had been discontinued. Simultaneously Paid For And Became the Product (Score:2) Re: (Score:3) And companies today are greedy enough to not give a fuck about the negative sentiment it generates among consumers. You underestimate how much power consumers have. They can vote with their wallets. Oh wait, you said Apple consumers. Never mind. Re: (Score:2) Your wallet is tiny next to the investors and shareholder's wallets Re: (Score:2) Investors and shareholders need consumers. Not the other way around. If consumers abandoned a product because they found it annoying, you can be sure investors and shareholders would want to see some changes. Re: (Score:2) I'm guessing that when the price doesn't cover the total costs of everything, then your scenario applies - we pay for the product, but still remain the product. Not that that precludes a company from making money on both ends I'm pretty sure their boards approve Re: (Score:2) Based on the cost of products from China vs the price of products made in China but sold by non-Chinese companies, I'd say the price well more than covers the cost of everything for practically any product where they also choose to display ads. They just want more, more, always more. Re: (Score:2) This is a very popular sentiment among Apple users despite the fact that there's nothing stopping a company from making money from both sides. You were saying? [reddit.com] The WSJ and most other papers have become jokes (Score:2) > Samsung said the purpose of the pilot is to explore whether ads relevant to home chores can be useful to owners, Whatever happened to, oh, I don't know, integrity in journalism? Its one thing to post a quote that's clearly somewhere between disingenuous and an outright lie (after all we deserve to know how people / companies are trying to [mis]represent the truth) but to do so without offering an opposing point of view, counterpoint, or just plain old calling it out for what it is? Instead they just p Re: (Score:3) Did you read the article? It contains several opposing points of view. However, the first question anyone would have is: What does Samsung have to say about this? The journalist got the answer to that question. Re: The WSJ and most other papers have become joke (Score:2) This is slashdot. Of course they didn't read the actual article. That would take done extra clicks and maybe a scroll or two of moment because of ads. at least it hasn't exploded (yet) (Score:2) Exploding washing machines: https://www.consumerreports.or... [consumerreports.org] See also https://www.elliott.org/?s=sam... [elliott.org] Consumer issues with Samsung where help was needed to resolve the issue. Given both the quality issues and the enshittification issues, I don't know why anyone would buy Samsung -anything-. Re: (Score:2) Speed Queen is the only reliable washer/drier brand available in US. More expensive, but you get that back the first time it doesn't need to be repaired. 7 year warranty for the top load washers. No internet connectively, no LCD, no app... Re: (Score:2) Speed Queen is the only reliable washer/drier brand available in US. They discontinued their old school design for the home/consumer market a few years ago. Their current offerings aren't meaningfully different from what other major appliance manufacturers are selling. On a related note, I used to think the same thing regarding washing machines - that the "built like a tank" designs from my childhood were the best. Turns out they actually use a shit ton of detergent (which has become expensive in recent years) and are rough on your clothes. I switched to a modern front-loa Re: at least it hasn't exploded (yet) (Score:2) How do you quantify those savings? Why (Score:2) Is this "news"? I'm waiting for... (Score:2) I'm waiting for something like the "verb alert" system... https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] Although the screen could dissuade someone from raiding the icebox at the wee hours of night. --JoshK. K)eep I)t S)imple, S)tupid (Score:2) Re: (Score:2) Re: K)eep I)t S)imple, S)tupid (Score:2) Eventually they will embed cameras in the screens to monitor your eyes. The ads will pause until youâ(TM)re looking at them. Pi-hole FTW (Score:2) Not perfect, but still very effective. If you DO have IoT devices... (Score:2) Then have a home lab and server that separately controls each of these. Do not allow any one of these devices to be a gateway to other devices. What business does the fridge have playing music for the owner? Maybe follow the Unix philosophy - do ONE thing and do it well! For a fridge, I wouldn't mind it having a feature such as a list of contained items - vegetables, meats, drinks, ice cream,..... I don't need it to be my media player Good for Brian Bosworth in the above story for extending his firewa Re: (Score:2) The manufacturer's answer to this will be cellular modems. You'll have to tear into your fridge and disconnect the antenna or place a cellular jammer next to the fridge. Of course these actions might cause the fridge to stop working and spoil all of your food or just void the warranty. Re: (Score:2) Re: (Score:2) I worked for a company which DID include a cellular modem in its rental product. With this they could shut down the product if the customer failed to make the monthly rental payment. Cellular modems are now very cheap to implement, and if the cellular bit rate is low and usage is low, the connection fees are low as well. With cheap cellular data rates, I would expect more appliances to implement cellular modems and become "monetized:" to increase the appliance manufacturers profit margins. Eventually you might Re: (Score:2) Re: (Score:2) Cellular modems speak TCP/IP they look like a Ethernet interface in Linux. Re: (Score:2) The manufacturer's answer to this will be cellular modems. A few companies have tried this with products that cost less than a car. Usually you're on the hook for a service plan if you want the connectivity to continue working, or in the case of what Bird did with a scooter they used to sell, they just announced one day that everyone is losing their connectivity and too bad if you weren't expecting that. [reddit.com] Back in the day, Amazon used to offer Kindles with free cellular connectivity, but they discontinued that awhile go. I don't think we're quite at the point where Re: (Score:2) Recurring costs can be very inexpensive if you have low data rates ( e.g. no graphical ads). Here is one example: https://tealcom.io/cellular-iot-connectivity-unlimited-5g/ Here is another: https://www.hologram.io/pricing/ And another: https://www.volersystems.com/blog/wearable-devices/inexpensive-low-data-rate-links-for-the-internet-of-things That's what I would expect (Score:2) What did he expect? That there wouldn't be ads? That's quite naive. If there is space, and money to be made, and they can do it, you can expect it to be done. I will never get an appliance with internet connectivity. It's stupidly unnecessary and just a vulnerability. I don't want to be like that Vegas casino that got hacked through their thermometer. Btw, some Samsung fridges from 2020 (Score:2) However, the ice machine will ice up and stop working randomly because it's so poorly sealed and will need extra foam and foil tape to better seal the compartment. it's getting blocked from the wifi too (Score:1) grown ups don't allow advertising in their own house. You want to spam ads on my fridge you'd best be giving me the fridge for free, but i'll still be covering up the screen Re: (Score:2) funny how this /. webpage has 5 ads on it, wonder how many yours had when you posted that? fuck your ads it ceased to be your screen (Score:2) I don't get how this kind of thing works (Score:2) I'm too wily to buy something like that. But if I did buy one of those things, and an advertisement appeared on it, my reaction would be "how dare you put advertisements on my fridge which I paid money for! I'm not buying anything from your company now unless there's absolutely no alternative!" Advertising-supported free services? Fair enough, I understand the bargain there. Showing advertisements on something that's paid for? You are now my enemy. Wegovy Ads (Score:2) 50 year old refrigerators (Score:1) In my building there is a fridge that's 50 years old and still going strong. If I were building a new house say, I'd scour around for old appliances (fridge, washers etc) to furnish it with. (I did recently see a youtube video about some companies that still make products that last. More expensive to buy but cheaper in the long run. The video emphasized they were all family owned companies.) article lies (Score:2) "They run as a rectangular banner at the bottom — part of a widget that also shows news, the weather and a calendar. " False, they run in an optional screen saver, not when the display is being used for interaction. It's not a "widget", it's a screen saver, and only a transitional one. "...and that overall pushback has been negligible." Right, because the ads run in a screen saver, and no one sees the screen saver. They've walked away already. "Bosworth thinks it's wrong to take away the new feature as "The response? Not warm." (Score:2)