How to Stop Your Smart TV From Showing Ads
Smart TVs serve ads on the home screen, in menus, and even as screensavers. Here's how to disable as many as possible on Samsung, LG, Sony, and budget brands.
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You paid $500-2,000 for a TV and it shows you ads. Welcome to the smart TV era, where your viewing habits are monetized to subsidize hardware costs. Here's how to fight back.
Samsung TVs
Samsung's Tizen platform is one of the most aggressive about ads. They appear on the home screen, in the app bar, and as recommendations.
Disable Personalized Ads
Settings → General & Privacy → Privacy → Advertising → toggle off "Interest-Based Advertisements" and "Samsung Ads." This doesn't eliminate all ads but stops personalized tracking.
Disable Autoplay Previews
Settings → General & Privacy → Autoplay → toggle off "Auto-play Video" and "Auto-play Highlight." This stops video previews from playing on the home screen.
Block Samsung Ad Servers (Advanced)
In your router's admin panel, add these domains to the block list:
- ads.samsung.com
- samsungads.com
- config.samsungads.com
This blocks ad delivery at the network level. The ad spaces will appear blank or show default content.
LG TVs
LG's webOS shows "Recommended" content and sponsored tiles on the home screen.
Disable Ad Tracking
Settings → General → Additional Settings → Advertising → turn off "Limit Ad Tracking"
Disable Home Promotions
Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → Home Settings → turn off "Home Promotion" and "Content Recommendation"
Disable Autoplay
Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → Home Settings → turn off "Auto Launch Last App"
The LG C4 OLED with webOS 24 has slightly fewer ads than previous versions, but the above settings still apply.
Sony TVs (Google TV)
Google TV's home screen is essentially a giant content recommendation engine with ads.
Use Basic TV Mode
Settings → System → Google TV Mode → Apps Only Mode. This strips the Google TV home screen down to just your installed apps — no recommendations, no ads, no content suggestions.
Disable Personalization
Settings → Privacy → Ads → toggle "Delete advertising ID" and "Opt out of Ads Personalization"
Disable Autoplay
Settings → System → Ambient Mode → Off. Settings → Display & Sound → Screensaver → set to Clock or Colors instead of "Chromecast"
TCL/Hisense (Google TV or Roku TV)
Google TV Models
Same fixes as Sony above — Apps Only Mode is your best friend.
Roku TV Models
Settings → Privacy → Advertising → Limit Ad Tracking → enable. This doesn't eliminate ads from the Roku home screen but prevents personalized targeting.
Roku's home screen ads are baked into the platform. You cannot fully remove them without bypassing the Roku interface entirely.
The Nuclear Option: Use an External Streaming Device
The most effective way to avoid TV ads is to never use your TV's built-in smart platform. Instead:
- Use an Apple TV 4K ($130) — Apple's interface has no ads (just content suggestions from your subscriptions)
- Or use a Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($35) — has some sponsored content but fewer ads than most TV platforms
- Set the TV input to the streaming device by default
- Disconnect the TV from WiFi entirely (Settings → Network → Disconnect)
With no WiFi connection, your "smart" TV becomes a dumb display. The external streaming device provides all smart functionality without the TV-level ads. As a bonus, external devices typically have faster processors and receive software updates longer than built-in TV platforms.
Network-Level Ad Blocking
Pi-hole
Set up a Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole as your network's DNS server. Pi-hole blocks ad-serving domains for ALL devices on your network, including smart TVs. The Raspberry Pi 5 ($80) runs Pi-hole alongside other tasks.
Pi-hole blocks:
- Samsung ad servers
- LG ad servers
- Most embedded ad networks
- Tracking domains from smart TV analytics
AdGuard Home
An alternative to Pi-hole with a friendlier web interface. Install on a Raspberry Pi or any always-on computer.
Router-Level DNS
Some routers support custom DNS filtering. The ASUS RT-AX86U Pro has AiProtection that can block ad domains at the router level.
The Privacy Angle
Smart TV ads are fueled by tracking. Your TV monitors what you watch, how long you watch, and even what's on screen (through ACR — Automatic Content Recognition). Disabling ACR is as important as blocking ads:
- Samsung: Settings → General & Privacy → Privacy → Viewing Information Services → Off
- LG: Settings → General → Additional Settings → Advertising → toggle off "Live Plus"
- Sony/Google TV: Settings → Privacy → Usage & Diagnostics → Off
- Roku: Settings → Privacy → Smart TV Experience → disable "Use Info from TV Inputs"
Disabling ACR doesn't remove ads, but it stops your TV from sending your viewing data to advertisers.
Read our smart TV privacy guide →
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