Samsung Launches Ads on Smart Fridges

Samsung has started rolling out an update in the US for its Family Hub smart fridges that brings ads to their screens, among other new features.

As spotted by The Verge, the controversial update for Family Hub fridges (which start at around $2,000, or around £1,500 / AU$3,000) includes a new widget for "day-to-day information", which includes news, calendar events, weather forecasts, and (drum roll) "curated advertisements".

In a footnote for the announcement, Samsung says the screens will "serve contextual or non-personal ads" and that they are "not collecting personal information or tracking consumers".

Even so, the news is likely to spark another fierce backlash. Samsung announced that the 'feature' was coming to its smart fridges last month, and the response was frosty to say the least.

Not only were the fridge ads met with a collective 'thumbs down', Samsung further stoked anger by maintaining in an official statement that it was "enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers".

The Family Hub update starts rolling out from today (October 27) in the US and will appear as a notification on the fridge's screen, which will ask you to "opt in to the latest software update". Many will, understandably, ignore it and reach for some guacamole instead.

Samsung at least gives Family Hub fridge owners the option to turn off ads in the 'Advertisements' tab of the Settings menu. You can also dismiss ads that you see on the 'Cover screen'.

But the frustration for many is that there's even an 'Advertisements' tab in the fridge's settings, which didn't exist when the (very expensive) fridge first launched. That crosses a line that will likely overshadow the other features this update brings, including a new UI, improved AI-powered food tracking, and more.

We've previously criticized a similar approach on Amazon's Fire tablets. For a slight discount, you can let Amazon show ads on your tablet's lock screen. But the deal isn't particularly tempting – as my colleague Philip Berne wrote, "you save a few bucks" and "Amazon gets a billboard in your home forever".

Still, at least Amazon tries to subsidize its ad-infested tech. Samsung sadly seems oblivious to the negative reception to its "pilot" program, which it should at least be adapting based on user feedback. Judging by the early reception to the idea, that reception will be cooler than the fridge's built-in ice-maker.