The Vizio TV that you bought with hard-earned cash has a new feature; Jump Ads. Vizio will first identify what is on your screen and then place interactive banner ads over live TV programs.

Jump Ads
LG and Samsung have both redesigned their Smart TV platform to more prominently display ads and highlight content from partners, much like Android TV. Meanwhile, owners of Roku TVs have complained about banner ads on live TV.

Vizio is no stranger to Smart TV ads and the company is now taking it a step further with so-called Jump Ads.

- "Jump Ads represent yet another step in VIZIO’s ongoing mission to unify the smart TV experience with features that benefit viewers, content providers and advertisers," said Adam Bergman, VP of sales, Vizio Ads.


 An example of Jump Ads on Vizio TVs. Photo: Vizio

It is based on Vizio's in-house technology from subsidiary company Inscape that uses automatic content recognition (ACR) to identify what is on your screen at any given moment. If the system detects a specific show on live TV it can then show ads in real-time.

Fox is the first partner to test the system, placing ads towards the end of its new comedy series Welcome to Flatch. If you click on the ad you will be taken to the Fox Now app. It is up to the ad provider to decide how and when ads appear on a show, and how often. The company said that it is "working with additional content providers and brands on a variety of integrations".

Vizio's Jump Ads initiative launches in beta meaning that you as a Vizio TV owner still have time to voice your concerns.