After Google’s latest update adding the new launcher with ads to Android TV, I’ve seen people unironically defend it. Why?
My philosophy is this. If I buy a device, with my own money, I should not have to deal with ads somewhere like the HOME SCREEN.
Imagine you just buy a house. But, you go in, and there are ads everywhere on the walls. Ads for stupid stuff you don’t care about, in your OWN HOUSE. That’s what Google is trying to do here.
Sure, you can remove the ads, but they shouldn’t be there in the first place. This is the direction Google is going, or even worse.
These ads just shove pointless products down your throat, as well as even track you and collect data off of you, harming your privacy in the process. Google is notorious for doing this, they’re one of the worst offenders. So, why are they getting a pass?
Microsoft started this trend with the Xbox 360 by putting ads on the homescreen, and since then, companies have picked it up, following in their footsteps. Google isn’t the first, not will be the last, but that doesn’t make it okay, at all. That’s like saying “I killed someone! But, it’s fine, because he also killed someone”.
I understand you can change the launcher, but you shouldn’t have to, just to avoid ads. It shouldn’t be a thing. Also, yes, we can change the launcher NOW, but what about in the future? Google has already started cracking down on user control in recent years, and what says they will stop? As I’ll get into, Amazon doesn’t (or at least tries not to) let you change launchers. What’s to stop Google from doing the same?
There is a difference between recommendations and ads. Recommendations are fine, they can be useful, but they should be optional. You should be able to pick if you want recommendations or not, and for what services. In some of the pictures, it even shows a giant banner ad advertising what is “trending on Google Play”. No one I know even has Google Play, so why is that forced down our throats?
“But Amazon does it too”. They do, and that’s an issue as well, and absolutely part of the problem. The Fire TV is horrible about advertising. At least with Google, you can change the launcher, with some Amazon devices, you can’t even do that, in fact, Amazon actively tries to patch it.
A lot of these android boxes do, and it doesn’t make it okay. Hell, even NVIDIA does now with the “promoted content” tab, which luckily you can remove, but it shouldn’t be there in the first place. It’s ridiculous.
None of this exempts Google, and the good thing is, they haven’t rolled this out yet. We can stop them, and make a difference, if they get enough backlash, before it’s too late.
Google already makes billions of dollars off of advertising and data collection. Can’t they leave our own TV alone?
The people defending it are part of the problem as well. I agree, overall, the Google Launcher is pretty nice. It has some really great features, a clean look, etc. But, the advertising kills it. It shouldn’t be defended because it can look good, that doesn’t make it okay.
I love Android, but I’m concerned for the future.
I’ll be sticking to Wolf Launcher for as long as I can. It has a nice clean layout, widget support, custom background support, etc. And, no ads!
I really hope Nvidia and other companies don’t allow this, and that Google rethinks their act.
I can't wait until there is an ad free fork of Android TV.
It's open source, so it's possible. You could even add adblockers at a very low level in theory