Hisense TVs force owners to watch intrusive ads when switching inputs, visiting the home screen, or even changing channels — practice infuriates consumers, brand denies wrongdoing

Hardware and software laden with ads have, unfortunately, become part and parcel of modern life, but there are occasions when the hunt for revenue goes too far. One of those cases comes from Hisense, known across Western markets as a budget electronics brand. The firm's TV sets have repeatedly come under fire for forcing non-skippable ads when switching inputs, turning the TV on, navigating to the home screen, and even when switching channels — all changes that took effect unilaterally after purchase, reportedly even for users who had all ad-related options disabled.

The affected models are mostly but not exclusively lower-end units with Hisense's VIDAA operating system, recently rebranded as Home OS. The vast majority of reports come from Hisense TV owners, but we saw at least one such complaint about a Toshiba set. The operating system is also licensed by Schneider, Akai, and Loewe, among multiple other brands.

This issue came to light recently due to press coverage, but it dates back at least a year, and possibly three, depending on how you count. The earliest notable report dates to 2022, when a user spotted an ad option in their input selection menu. These complaints have gotten more frequent with time, with some people noticing they were forced to watch ads when they turned on their sets. Reports from the last two weeks display the more aggressive tactic of forcing ads when changing TV inputs. Spanish outlets El Español and La Razón covered reports that users were being delivered ads when simply changing channels, too

The situation gets sketchier when reading through user discussions of how to avoid this madness-making behavior. Most suggestions for avoiding the ads are predictable, such as changing the TV's DNS servers or disconnecting it from the internet entirely. Still, a common solution is to contact Hisense support with the TV's unique ID at the seemingly Australian address [email protected].

Users who contacted support via email reported that the ads were disabled on their sets, which raises the question of whether Hisense is simply managing delivery on the ad server side or has deeper access to the TVs in question. Additionally, while a sufficiently motivated or technically minded user will forge all the way through this route, it's reasonable to expect that the public at large would grudgingly accept the ads if the sets are outside their store's return window.

Then there's the matter of the location of these incidents. Most reports seem to come from British and Spanish users, but we also found a German-language post and screenshots of a TV set in German. La Razón dug into this matter and published a statement from Hisense that arguably raises more questions than it answers.

Hisense says the ads did not stop owners from "using their devices normally" (a fact reiterated three times) and that the ads were part of "spot tests within the Spanish market," meant to "evaluate certain advertising formats linked to free content within the platform itself."

Given that user reports span multiple countries and a wide time frame, and that Hisense has an Australian email address that answers customer queries on the subject, the situation looks as clear-cut as the circular economy around AI investments.

As far as we can tell, the list of countries from which complaints originate is part of a list of nations covered by an advertising agreement between VIDAA and Teads. The entire statement from Hisense follows; note the translation is our own.

"Regarding the recently-published information about the alleged inclusion of mandatory advertising in Hisense television sets, the company wishes to clarify that in no circumstance did its devices force users to watch ads to use them normally.

The aforementioned situation is exclusive to a spot test performed in the Spanish market within the scope of the VIDAA platform, the television sets' operating system. This test's objective was to evaluate certain advertising formats linked to free content within the platform itself.

In no circumstance did the test affect the standard functionality of the device nor did it limit access to its main features. The users could and can continue to normally use all HDMI inputs, external devices, consoles, subscription streaming apps, or standard broadcasts without any type of interruption or obligation to watch advertisements.

This was a temporary and finalized market test. The aforementioned advertising format has now been removed from Spain. Hisense maintains its commitment to a quality, transparent user experience, based on freedom of choice, guaranteeing that the usage of the television set and its main features are not conditional on watching advertisements."

While Hisense's statement suggests this "test" was regionally limited, the ongoing complaints about intrusive ads on its TVs suggest that the presence or absence of those ads is more widespread and longer-lasting than claimed. In any event, users seeking a less burdensome TV-watching experience might want to steer clear of Hisense's hardware, as they risk unpleasant surprises when performing basic tasks on their sets.

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