# Ads getting much more intrusive



## MACCTVO (Apr 11, 2010)

I've noticed more and more ads and they are more and more intrusive. They occur larger than ever on the STOP bar (when pause, fast-forward, etc.), they are appearing now in "My Shows", and other places

It bothers me that I *purchased *my TIVO box and am *paying *a monthly subscription fee. I should not be inundated with ads for a service that I a paying for.

Does anyone agree with me?


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## takeshi (Jul 22, 2010)

Let's see:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=510298
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=511501
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=495868
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=487291
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=489101


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Agreed- i was just thinking we needed another thread on this.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

MACCTVO said:


> I've noticed more and more ads and they are more and more intrusive. They occur larger than ever on the STOP bar (when pause, fast-forward, etc.), they are appearing now in "My Shows", and other places
> 
> It bothers me that I *purchased *my TIVO box and am *paying *a monthly subscription fee. I should not be inundated with ads for a service that I a paying for.
> 
> Does anyone agree with me?


The ads have always showed up in those places. This is nothing new. I'm glad we have another thread to discuss it in though.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

takeshi said:


> Let's see:
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=510298
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=511501
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=495868
> ...


I was just about to do the same, TYVM!


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## csell (Apr 16, 2007)

MACCTVO said:


> It bothers me that I *purchased *my TIVO box and am *paying *a monthly subscription fee. I should not be inundated with ads for a service that I a paying for.


Look at it this way - if there were no ads, then your monthly subscription would be a lot more. I'd rather keep paying what I am and simply ignore those ads then to have to pay more a month not to have ads.


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## tivohaydon (Mar 24, 2001)

csell said:


> Look at it this way - if there were no ads, then your monthly subscription would be a lot more. I'd rather keep paying what I am and simply ignore those ads then to have to pay more a month not to have ads.


Ah yes, this old chestnut. And just how much money per subscriber do you think TiVo rakes in every month?

Let's do some quick elementary school math. TiVo has close to 4 million subscribers right now. So surely, if as you say, the service would be much more expensive they must be making like, at least $5 per subscriber per month on advertising revenue right? (Does 33% qualify as much more?) So that's like, $20 million a month. Or roughly $60 million per quarter.

TiVo made just over $81 million last QUARTER. <sarcasm>Obviously the only thing they're making money off of is advertising.</sarcasm>

Do you people who keep spouting this even stop to do some simple math?

Do you really think it's worth the money to piss their customer's off? I'm sure the advertising isn't a money making proposition today but rather something they ASPIRE to, at some point in the future, make significant money off of. And can you imagine what that will look like?

If given a choice I think almost all TiVo subscribers would pay the fraction of a dollar a month to be free of the ads.


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## caddyroger (Mar 15, 2005)

tivohaydon said:


> Ah yes, this old chestnut. And just how much money per subscriber do you think TiVo rakes in every month?
> 
> Let's do some quick elementary school math. TiVo has close to 4 million subscribers right now. So surely, if as you say, the service would be much more expensive they must be making like, at least $5 per subscriber per month on advertising revenue right? (Does 33% qualify as much more?) So that's like, $20 million a month. Or roughly $60 million per quarter.
> 
> ...


Since you are talking simple math you listed what Tivo makes a month. Now tell how much are they spending for buildings, R&D, insurance and taxes, workers salaries. How much are they paying Tirbute to use the guild. The cost of the Tivo that they discount to buyers.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Ah, I was really hoping that all of the sarcasm was going to kill this thread. Clearly I was wrong.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

tivohaydon said:


> Do you really think it's worth the money to piss their customer's off? I'm sure the advertising isn't a money making proposition today but rather something they ASPIRE to, at some point in the future, make significant money off of. And can you imagine what that will look like?


Their customer's WHAT?

But seriously, apparently plenty of people pay for Hulu Plus, and that has commercials.

I personally won't get Hulu Plus (beyond *possibly* for a free trial), BECAUSE of the commercials.

I have Tivo (and VCRs before that), I think *more* to avoid commercials than to timeshift. Even so, the Tivo's ads are about as unobtrusive as they can be, without not being there.

Actually, the top bar thing on the Premiere beyond bugs me FAR FAR more than any of the ads that the Tivo UI puts in my face. (yes, I know the top bar thing has ads sometimes too, and arguably EVERYTHING is an ad, even when it shows a TV show/movie.. but you get the difference I'm trying to make.)


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Oh yay, another thread about ads. Let's throw a party!


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

I bought a newspaper today. I paid money for it. Money! Paid! And it had ads! Outrage!

(Actually, I'm lying. I haven't bought a newspaper in years).


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## csell (Apr 16, 2007)

There's not much in life now a days that doesn't have advertisements... You go to the movies and pay $13 bucks and you have to sit through a ton of advertisements. You spend $30 to go to a baseball game and you see advertisements everywhere... I'm completely fine with what Tivo is doing as it in no way takes away from my experience with it. As long as they don't start inserting commercials of their own into your shows that you can't fast forward,,,,


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

There should be as many threads as there are ads. Seems only fair, so that the irony of whining about the whining can thrive. Want them to ignore the ads? By golly, you could ignore the threads.  

</troll mode>

BTW, Tivo's ad revenue is so small they don't even report it in their financials. The impact on our subs is virtually zilch.


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## tivohaydon (Mar 24, 2001)

caddyroger said:


> Since you are talking simple math you listed what Tivo makes a month. Now tell how much are they spending for buildings, R&D, insurance and taxes, workers salaries. How much are they paying Tirbute to use the guild. The cost of the Tivo that they discount to buyers.


Just look at their financial statements. What they get from advertising is minimal and probably isn't even a factor in setting the monthly service fee.

My point is simply that people saying that TiVo is doing us a favor by having ads in the platform to subsidize the cost are wrong.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> BTW, Tivo's ad revenue is so small they don't even report it in their financials. The impact on our subs is virtually zilch.


Which begs the obvious question then - why are they pissing their service-paying customers off for so little in return?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

slowbiscuit said:


> Which begs the obvious question then - why are they pissing their service-paying customers off for so little in return?


Pissing us off?? Who *wouldn't* want an ad for a $1 paper towel coupon spamming a giant block of their TV screen incessantly and without rate limiting for months on end? They're looking out for us. Stain cleanup is an important public service announcement that never, ever, ends.

Yeah, I don't know. It's an untested, clueless Tivo act. If they did have a clue, they'd be deliberately annoying people at this point. Maybe they have a quota.

If they're going to spam a quarter of the TV screen, it should be limited and for something damn cool. A paper towel ad is certifiably ridiculous. They need to think higher of themselves and us. Whoring us and that much real estate out for literally pennies on the dollar is just reproachable.

And the ads aren't just beyond useless to my house at this point, it's blown back in their faces. We hate Carbonite now, and as hard as it is to "hate" a paper towel, Bounty isn't far behind.


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## eht (Dec 5, 2013)

I just became a Tivo user and dealer. I guess I'm going to have to target potential Tivo clients that keep their hard drives on their kitchen counter.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

I've always assumed the ads were more a proof of concept for their MSO ambitions.

Should we start an ad-complaint thread drinking game?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

eht said:


> I just became a Tivo user *and dealer*. I guess I'm going to have to target potential Tivo clients that keep their hard drives on their kitchen counter.


??????


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

SullyND said:


> I've always assumed the ads were more a proof of concept for their MSO ambitions.
> 
> Should we start an ad-complaint thread drinking game?


I htink most of us agree at this point that it's proof of concept for the MSO markets, we're just the test platform.

I think the drinking game will have us all passed out within a few posts, every ad thread is always exactly the same, it's as if each new poster wants to rehash the same discussion we just finished with in another thread, but not bother to go over to the other sub-forum and read it.


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

Me pay money!

Me no want ads!

Me no care about anyone else!

Me! me! me!


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

dianebrat said:


> ... we're just the test platform....


Once upon a time, we were the customers.

Now we're just the product.


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## cncb (Jul 4, 2013)

Turtleboy said:


> Me no care about anyone else!


Wow, not wanting to see ads in a service you pay a lot of money for is now selfish?? That is some strange logic.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

No ads and no monthly fees with Windows Media Center.


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

cncb said:


> Wow, not wanting to see ads in a service you pay a lot of money for is now selfish?? That is some strange logic.


You don't pay a lot of money for it.


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## scooby2 (Dec 24, 2001)

I'm not a fan of the ads either and believe Tivo should offer some kind of opt-out method (be it pay $X more for your subscription).

My question is why does the ad not go away if you sign up for it? I've signed up for the Bounty/Charmin/etc $1 coupons but the ads keep coming. I've contemplated signing up everytime the Ad shows to see if I can be a pain in the ass.


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## tivohaydon (Mar 24, 2001)

Turtleboy said:


> You don't pay a lot of money for it.


$1600 over two years for a Roamio and two Minis. If that's not a lot of money to you please pay my bills.


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## eht (Dec 5, 2013)

eht said:


> I just became a Tivo user and dealer. I guess I'm going to have to target potential Tivo clients that keep their hard drives on their kitchen counter.


Unitron reponded with ???? to my joke. Well, if you kept your drive on the kitchen counter, there is a good chance it will get wet (need paper towels), thus losing data (need Carbonite).


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## eht (Dec 5, 2013)

FYI, for those of you that use universal remotes, you can make a macro for PAUSE that contains the pause command and the down arrow command so it will automatically remove the ad.

Does anyone know what triggers the ad on the pause command? Is it an is elapsed time trigger?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

tivohaydon said:


> $1600 over two years for a Roamio and two Minis. If that's not a lot of money to you please pay my bills.


Yes, that's a lot of money.

But compare it to the (closest to) equivalent you would pay for cable/satellite boxes.

It's probably close if not cheaper with Tivo, right?

And Tivos have FEWER and LESS INTRUSIVE ads than I've seen on cable boxes.

Do I like the ads? NO. Am I "defending" them? I guess you could argue I am, but if it's "less bad" than the competition, that's a comparatively good thing (yes I'm stating a tautology).


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## jntc (Dec 5, 2013)

eht said:


> FYI, for those of you that use universal remotes, you can make a macro for PAUSE that contains the pause command and the down arrow command so it will automatically remove the ad.


Brilliant :up:


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

tivohaydon said:


> $1600 over two years for a Roamio and two Minis. If that's not a lot of money to you please pay my bills.


It must suck that you were forced to do this, that you had no choice and these ads came out of nowhere.


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

jntc said:


> Brilliant :up:


compared to the ads on a DTV guide, these are downright invisible.


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## tivohaydon (Mar 24, 2001)

Langree said:


> It must suck that you were forced to do this, that you had no choice and these ads came out of nowhere.


It does suck that the best of the worst still has ads, yes.

edit: You sound like you're holding out on me. Please inform my ignorant brain of all of the competitive options that don't display ads.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

Langree said:


> compared to the ads on a DTV guide, these are downright invisible.


Yeah, but you pay for the TiVo service and DirecTV is fr... Er, never mind. At least PBS has no ads... Wait.


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## PalmTrees (Dec 10, 2013)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> Pissing us off?? Who *wouldn't* want an ad for a $1 paper towel coupon spamming a giant block of their TV screen incessantly and without rate limiting for months on end? ...
> Yeah, I don't know. It's an untested, clueless Tivo act. If they did have a clue, they'd be deliberately annoying people at this point. Maybe they have a quota.


Big Jim --

Within a decade, you might wish for the days that all you saw was a paper towel ad.

Read through TiVo's most recent 10-K filing and you'll see discussion on their purchase of TRA Global.

Basically, TiVo implies they'll be doing much more micro-targeting of ads to households. They'll probably begin to combine their information with detailed files from outside data brokers on consumers.

So, in 2018, after you've done a search for oatmeal or a car -- or bought medicine at CVS with your loyalty card -- you may turn on your TiVo, only to see ads for those exact products or complementary goods.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

PalmTrees said:


> So, in 2018, after you've done a search for oatmeal or a car -- or bought medicine at CVS with your loyalty card -- you may turn on your TiVo, only to see ads for those exact products or complementary goods.


As long as they are geared toward something I might use, that might actually make the ads more tolerable for me.


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## katemo1 (Sep 17, 2008)

I can no longer skip ads or even portions of shows. When I try, to use fast forward and then play, it returns to the same ad I am skipping. While watching during FF it seems like you are moving forward but are not. Also the clock is not timing correctly. Anyone else facing this? So far only on a few chanels (VHI). This is my third TIVO and I am devastated.


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## JSY (Nov 6, 2002)

mattack said:


> But compare it to the (closest to) equivalent you would pay for cable/satellite boxes.
> 
> It's probably close if not cheaper with Tivo, right?
> 
> And Tivos have FEWER and LESS INTRUSIVE ads than I've seen on cable boxes.


Just curious - there are ads on cable boxes? I don't have any ads on my cable box from Time Warner (which runs parallel to my Premiere) and I'm sure they wouldn't miss up on the opportunity. Frankly, I suspect the cost of my TiVos are near the cost of my cable/satellite boxes (I have TWC and Directv) because of grandfathered rates.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

katemo1 said:


> I can no longer skip ads or even portions of shows. When I try, to use fast forward and then play, it returns to the same ad I am skipping. While watching during FF it seems like you are moving forward but are not. Also the clock is not timing correctly. Anyone else facing this? So far only on a few chanels (VHI). This is my third TIVO and I am devastated.


That is odd behavior. Sounds like a reboot is in order, followed by a connection to the TiVo service.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

katemo1 said:


> I can no longer skip ads or even portions of shows. When I try, to use fast forward and then play, it returns to the same ad I am skipping. While watching during FF it seems like you are moving forward but are not. Also the clock is not timing correctly. Anyone else facing this? So far only on a few chanels (VHI). This is my third TIVO and I am devastated.


You joined TCF 5 years ago and this is your first post?

What previous model TiVos have you had and what model do you currently have?

What you've go going on sounds much too "designed" to be a bug or glitch.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

JSY said:


> Just curious - there are ads on cable boxes? I don't have any ads on my cable box from Time Warner (which runs parallel to my Premiere) and I'm sure they wouldn't miss up on the opportunity. Frankly, I suspect the cost of my TiVos are near the cost of my cable/satellite boxes (I have TWC and Directv) because of grandfathered rates.


Not even boxes for upcoming shows or PPV? At least some of those are ads. (Like the discovery bar on Tivo -- but I'm not claiming they're necessarily ads on Tivo, though the stupid paper towel one of course is.)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

MACCTVO said:


> I've noticed more and more ads and they are more and more intrusive. They occur larger than ever on the STOP bar (when pause, fast-forward, etc.), they are appearing now in "My Shows", and other places
> 
> It bothers me that I *purchased *my TIVO box and am *paying *a monthly subscription fee. I should not be inundated with ads for a service that I a paying for.
> 
> Does anyone agree with me?


I haven't noticed. Nothing TiVo has done has prevented me from watching my content the way I've always done. If they ever interfere with that then I will have an issue. But everything has been unobtrusive so far.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

PalmTrees said:


> Big Jim --
> 
> Within a decade, you might wish for the days that all you saw was a paper towel ad.
> 
> ...


That sounds perfect. I would prefer for ads to be targeted to me for something I am interested in. If I have an interest in them, and I notice the ad, then I might look at them.

I have looked at stuff on the TiVos over the years that has caught my eye. I have no problem with it. And I've received discounts or coupons because of it. Someone mentioned the Bounty coupon. Mine showed up recently. My GF uses Bounty so I will give it to her the next time I see her. A $1 off coupon is like having a dollar bill in your hand. And they do add up over time.


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## t1voproof (Feb 6, 2010)

I want to thank TiVo for introducing me to Charmin Tailgating Potties!


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## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> And the ads aren't just beyond useless to my house at this point, it's blown back in their faces. We hate Carbonite now, and as hard as it is to "hate" a paper towel, Bounty isn't far behind.


100% agree. :up:


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