Roku

Roku streamers will start getting Walmart ads where you can buy directly from your TV

Ben Schoon | Jun 17 2022 - 9:02 am PT

Advertising is key to success for any streaming platform, but it’s especially important for Roku. Today, Roku has announced a new partnership with Walmart that will put ads on the company’s streamers that allow purchases using just the remote.

Roku streamers are getting Walmart ads

Coming to Roku devices, these new “shoppable” ads are a brand new concept. Instead of simply advertising a product or store and providing a link or QR code for users to learn more, these ads directly allow interested customers to buy products using nothing more than their remote.

Roku is starting this new ad format with Walmart first, and with products directly sold and shipped by Walmart instead of third-parties.

When a “shoppable” ad appears, users can interact with featured products and use their remote to scroll through and select products. Clicking on a product provides more details, and users can then place the order with pre-filled credit card details linked to their Roku account in “Roku Pay.”

Roku explains:

Viewers simply press “OK” with the remote on a shoppable ad and proceed to checkout with their payment details easily pre-populated from Roku Pay, Roku’s payments platform. From there, tapping “OK” on the Walmart checkout page places the order. A Walmart purchase confirmation is then emailed with shipping, return, and support information.

So far, Roku has yet to be clear about where these new ads will appear, and specifically whether or not they’ll appear while streaming content or from parts of the Roku operating system.

Right now, this idea is only in its pilot phase, but Roku says that future versions of the idea will “look for opportunities to build deeper commerce experiences that meet customers where they are.” Notably, in this first trial, products are targeted to users based on their interests.

Roku has not announced exactly when these ads will start showing up on streaming devices, or if they’ll appear on all devices.

9to5Google’s Take on Roku’s Walmart ads

This new idea is a bit of a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it’s a brilliant idea. Advertisers can deliver products to consumers who can act on that idea without needing to get on a different device. It’s something that, of course, a ton of people won’t want anything to do with, but it really does have some semblance of value to consumers too.

But on the other hand, this feels way over the top.

TV streaming platforms are supposed to be about getting you the content you’re likely already paying for to your TV. While there’s plenty of ad-supported content out there, having ads such as these on, say, the operating system of the device you paid for, would be incredibly invasive. It’s one thing to run ads for content someone might want to watch, as Google TV does, but it’s another thing entirely to push physical products that have nothing to do with someone who just wants to watch a movie.

This sort of thing could also open up a whole new world of ads on our streaming devices, and it’s a world I don’t think most folks actually want.