Your LG TV will soon show screensaver ads – here's how to run them off

Ever feel like the ads are never ending? If you have an LG TV, you might be seeing more.

A week after YouTube introduced ads to the pause screen, a report from flatpanelshd.com showed that full-screen screensaver ads might be coming to LG TVs, even expensive OLEDs. While the site was testing the latest G4 OLED set, an ad appeared shortly before the regular screensaver took over. The ad took up the whole screen and targeted the region specified in the TV settings. Other media outlets reported seeing the same thing on the G4. 

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While some of the ads were for LG streaming channels, others were for third-party partners and weren’t television-related – an expensive automobile, for example. The ad was muted, the site explained, but it’s not clear if that’s always going to be the case. A ZDNet team member with several older LG TVs reported seeing no ads yet, but did see a setting to turn the ads on and off, suggesting that they’re also coming to older sets.

In a press release about the “feature,” LG explains how in previous years, pausing the TV meant someone was likely leaving the room. But since today’s viewers often are multitasking — browsing social media, messaging, or playing a mobile game — a paused screen doesn’t mean an absent viewer.

Studies show a slight uptick in brand awareness overall for these ads, LG added, but a substantial jump in awareness (19.7%) for adults over the age of 45. By utilizing idle screen time, companies can drive “meaningful interactions.” Since LG is apparently seeing success with the ads, a wider rollout seems likely. 

Fortunately, there does seem to be a way to turn this feature off. If you head to your settings menu and then Additional Settings, you’ll see a Screen Saver Promotion toggle. Turn it off, and you should avoid these ads.