Walmart just bought Vizio in a $2.3 billion deal, which will likely mean that it will be the retail giant’s primary in-house brand for television. However, the deal goes beyond that, with the company saying that its acquisition of the TV brand will allow it to accelerate its advertising business—this could mean that Vizio TVs will get more ads in the near future.
Vizio TVs Will Get Ads via Walmart Connect
Vizio built its advertising business with the help of the WatchFree+ service that’s exclusively available on its TVs. WatchFree+ lets users stream content on their Vizio TVs for free, in exchange for watching ads.
Because you have to create an Vizio account to enjoy this service, the company can then track your watching habits, allowing it to serve you personalized ads. At the moment, Gizmodo says that there are 19 million active accounts using Vizio’s services, so that’s a lot of data points that the company has access to.
Because of this, Walmart said that its purchase of the TV manufacturer would allow it to enhance the shopping journey of its customers. “Vizio offers great products that customers love,” says Seth Dallaire, executive vice president and chief growth officer of Walmart U.S. “Vizio has also expertly changed their business over time, like building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business. Pairing it with Walmart Connect will be impactful and allow us to invest in our business even further on behalf of our customers.”
Since Vizio is now a fully owned subsidiary of the retail giant, it has access to all the data that the TV maker has accumulated over the years. Walmart’s advertising division, Walmart Connect, could then use this information to sell targeted ads. This means that the company can now directly get inside your house and advertise to you through your Vizio TV.
While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the fact that a giant corporation is using your data to give you tailor-made ads for your wants and needs is unsettling for some users. Furthermore, even if you’ve already spent money on a Vizio TV and taken it home, being subjected to ads from the manufacturer while using it feels like you don’t really own the TV.
Nevertheless, it also brings some conveniences. For example, Walmart’s shoppable ads on Roku could also appear here, making it easier for you to buy something that you like. But if you don’t like ads at all, this can be one of the reasons to upgrade to a Google TV Streamer and just use your Vizio TV as a dumb TV.
