At the beginning of November 2023, Yandex smart speaker users discovered ads that were activated after communicating with the voice assistant Alice on their devices. This situation caused discontent among the owners of the “Station”, including those with a “Plus” subscription, the portal reported; This means no advertising DTF.
Complaints from the owners of the “Station” appeared on social networks, who said that after executing various commands, such as setting a timer or asking about the weather, “Alice” began to broadcast advertisements. However, it cannot be interrupted and the ad lasts approximately 30 seconds.
Some users expressed outrage, stating that the presence of ads was unacceptable, especially on devices purchased at full price with a paid Plus subscription.
The tech giant’s official VK group confirmed that ads in “Stations” were part of the experiment. They also stated that you need to contact support to disable this.
Later, Yandex announced that the audio advertising test had ended.
“We actually tested a new advertising tool, the testing is now complete. Not all tests will be used in the future; This is a common practice for any company. Audio advertising was included for a small percentage of Alice’s target audience; We carefully monitored the feedback and evaluated it carefully,” Yandex representatives said.
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