Roku users are starting to see ads on the pause screen

Roku is experimenting with ads again, this time for the pause screen.

May 5, 2025 - 19:04

Roku users are starting to see ads on the pause screen

Credit: Roku

Reports are coming in that Roku may be experimenting with pause-screen ads.
The ads are reportedly appearing even if the user has an ad-free subscription.
These ads appear as static images that show up occasionally when media is paused.

Roku received a lot of pushback from customers after testing a feature that would auto-play video ads at device startup back in March. If you found that test to be annoying, get ready to have your feathers ruffled up once again. The company appears to be experimenting with a new way to serve you ads that involves the pause screen.

Over on Reddit, a Roku Streambar Pro user shared a picture of a static ad that popped up on screen after they hit pause on a show they were watching on Discovery Plus. According to the user, they started seeing these pause-screen ads a couple of days ago, even though they subscribe to the ad-free plan. They also note they’ve seen these ads about a half dozen times in the Discovery Plus app, but have yet to see them in Netflix.