
Spammy Google Home spouts audio ads without warning - ghosh
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/16/google_home_audio_adverts/?mt=1489715790938
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blaisio
Wow, I like my Google Home, but if I heard something like this, I think I
would return it immediately. And a lot of other people would too. It's
supposed to be a neat tool, not an advertising platform.

This would basically be the equivalent of a Pixel phone showing a random ad on
the home screen after you sign in. That would also make me return my phone if
it were to happen.

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shakna
And yet many haven't returned their Windows laptops after W10 started.

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bubblethink
People are outraged because audio ads sound a lot more intrusive than visual
ones. Google can seamlessly show ads on the web, but not so much on speakers.
There's also a bigger shock because people presumably anthropomorphize the
assistant and think of this as a betrayal. Everyone is trying to sell you
stuff through these assistants. Maybe people don't want sales assistants.

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elkos
Is this a trend to "normalize" ads as Alt-content?

It's a pity we don't have any ad blockers and for Conversational assistants​.

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DocTomoe
I wonder if this was, in fact, an ad.

"By the way, it's Groundhog day today" or "By the way, [random interesting
fact about the current date]" seems more like an inprovement.

I suspect that Google just somehow entangled 2017-03-18 with that movie
release date, and people started to wonder if Gogole was somehow paid to do
that.

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bobsam
I feel someone with authority should ask Google about their official stance on
this. For both current and future products.

When I buy a device, I want to know up front if I will be seeing ads. If
someone wants to take my money _and_ feed me ads I normally take my business
elsewhere.

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breakingcups
Several fiasco's with the Nest, Glass and now this have convinced me never to
buy a Google appliance anymore.

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Odenwaelder
"We’re continuing to experiment with new ways to surface unique content for
users ..." \-- Yeah, right. This was totally an ad.

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SerLava
I was considering buying one of these to play with. Not anymore. That is sheer
lunacy.

