Hisense adds non-skippable ads to it's GUI on the Spanish models

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In Spain, Hisense began to place non-skippable and AI personalized ads every time you changed the channel, the HDMI source, turned on the television and other basic things.

Background

At the moment of this polemic Hisense Smart TVs use a personalized operating system called VIDAA (based on android TV). The partner company in VIDAA is Neexen a AI based personalized advertisement company who announced the introduction of programmatic advertising, in which every opportunity to show an ad to a viewer who is presented, is auctioned in real-time through DSP platforms automatically.

Incident

In the start of 2026 the operating system of the Hisense's smart TVs, VIDAA, suddenly began to display non-skippable and full screen ads in it's GUI without notifying the customers.

The ads could appear in any moment, whether was at change channels, turn on the TV, switch HDMI sources, or put prioritized sponsored content in the system GUI and home screen.

The ads appear even if the owner disabled the permissions or added a custom DNS that blocked them.

Because the ads were personalized, the TV was collecting information all the time about what the user was doing with it and what was watching to display the most optimized ad.

Hisense's response

The company responded by claiming that it was a "one-off test of the model" and "currently, this advertising format has already been withdrawn from Spain" in the face of criticism from consumers. Also says "The ideals related to the user experience are not – nor will they be, says the company – conditioned to the display of advertising".

Consumer response

The response of consumers was an immediate hatred and weariness towards the ads and an explosion of complaints and exposure of the problem on social networks.

References

1. Álvarez del Vayo, Periódico El Español, "Hisense empieza a mostrar publicidad en España en sus smartTVs: anuncios incluso al encender el televisor", new from 27 Feb 2026, retrieved 13 Mar 2026.
2. Jose Antonio Carmona, Xatakahome, Hisense responde a la polémica de los anuncios a la fuerza en sus teles: “Se trató de una prueba temporal”, new from 6 Mar 2026, retrieved 13 Mar 2026.
3. ¿Un anuncio para cambiar de entrada?? ¿En serio?? (Re-subida con video) /, Reddit, from 23 Feb 2026, retrieved 13 Mar 2026.
4. Mi televisión Hisense ha empezado a mostrar anuncios ¿cómo los puedo eliminar?, Bandaancha.eu, 26 Feb 2026, retrieved 13 Mar 2026