TVOS giant Roku announced plans to launch video-based ads on its home screen.
The company’s “Roku City” homepage backdrop — which the streaming company says reaches nearly 120 million viewers each day — currently offers digital billboard stills that scroll by while viewers idle on the menu.
In discussing its video homepage ads for the first time last week during Roku’s first-quarter earnings call, company co-founder and CEO Anthony Wood didn't say if the ads will play with sound. But he did note that Roku is “also testing other types of video ad units, looking at other experiences we can add to the home screen that would be where we can innovate more video advertising.
“To give you some examples of the kinds of things we’re looking at on the home screen, on the home screen today, there’s the premier video app we called the Marquee and that traditionally has been a static ad,” Wood added. “We’re going to add video to that ad. So that will be the first video ad that we add to the home screen.”
It's still not clear exactly how the videos will integrate with Roku’s current home screen, but on-screen ad blocks that are currently still may soon be video slots.
In addition to video ads, Roku is preparing to increase personalized marketing on its home screen, focusing on streaming services and video-on-demand content to fine-tune recommendations for viewers.
The disclosure comes just a few weeks after the company filed a patent for technology that would allow it to show ads even while Roku TVs are being powered by an outside HDMI-connected, non-Roku device.
There are risks involved here.
Just this month, Roku used its home screen as a forum to promote Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour film, with a number of users finding the feature obnoxious and sharing tips to disable it.
But Wood said the changes will help consumers find more useful content and, in return, hopes they drive up sales.
