Samsung Smart TVs Insert Pepsi Ads Into Third-Party Streaming Apps Without Permission
Samsung can't seem to separate itself from drama surrounding its smart TV platform. It started with recent complaints that its TV voice recognition software was eavesdropping on living room conversations, and now users are complaining that Pepsi ads are running when they're not supposed to, like when watching locally stored content through Plex.
A user took to Reddit to post his complaint, noting that things have been working fine for the past year but have taken a turn for the worse -- "Recently it has been stopping half way through a show or a movie and has played a Pepsi ad that is muted." According to the user who posted the complaint, the ad doesn't appear on any other platform running Plex, just his Samsung smart TV.
Others chimed in that they've been experiencing the same problem. It's also not limited to Plex, or even to U.S. viewers. Over in Australia, Foxtel subscribers complained of the same issue.
"This absolutely should not be happening and has been escalated immediately," a Foxtel employee wrote in reply. "This appears to be a Samsung related issue and has been escalated to them with the highest priority."
Samsung's Australian arm blamed the unwanted ads on an error that occurred during a recent software update.
"We can confirm that the issue has now been rectified and that there are currently no plans to introduce this type of advertising in Australia in the near future. Samsung Electronics Australia would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused to our customers," a spokesperson for Samsung Australia said.
It's not yet known if Samsung is working on a fix for the U.S. market as well, or if this was intentional to begin with. In the meantime, you can disable the ads by pressing Menu on your remote and going to Smart Hub > Terms & Policy > Yahoo Privacy Policy and select "I disagree with the Yahoo Privacy Notice."
A user took to Reddit to post his complaint, noting that things have been working fine for the past year but have taken a turn for the worse -- "Recently it has been stopping half way through a show or a movie and has played a Pepsi ad that is muted." According to the user who posted the complaint, the ad doesn't appear on any other platform running Plex, just his Samsung smart TV.
Others chimed in that they've been experiencing the same problem. It's also not limited to Plex, or even to U.S. viewers. Over in Australia, Foxtel subscribers complained of the same issue.
"This absolutely should not be happening and has been escalated immediately," a Foxtel employee wrote in reply. "This appears to be a Samsung related issue and has been escalated to them with the highest priority."
Samsung's Australian arm blamed the unwanted ads on an error that occurred during a recent software update.
"We can confirm that the issue has now been rectified and that there are currently no plans to introduce this type of advertising in Australia in the near future. Samsung Electronics Australia would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused to our customers," a spokesperson for Samsung Australia said.
It's not yet known if Samsung is working on a fix for the U.S. market as well, or if this was intentional to begin with. In the meantime, you can disable the ads by pressing Menu on your remote and going to Smart Hub > Terms & Policy > Yahoo Privacy Policy and select "I disagree with the Yahoo Privacy Notice."
