How to Block Commercials on a Roku

Roku is an excellent, very versatile and user-friendly streaming device. However, it does have some flaws. Primarily, that it runs commercials every now and then, which most people dislike.

These commercials can interrupt you while gaming or watching Netflix and even slow down your internet speed. Unfortunately, there’s no native option on Roku that allows you to block commercials.

This is because commercials are Roku’s main source of revenue. Still, there are some steps you can take to limit ads on Roku. There are also third-party solutions for blocking commercials.

How to Limit Ads on Roku

Put simply, Roku has too many ads. And nobody likes having to sit through all of them. Luckily, there’s a way you can limit ads on Roku by using Roku settings. Be aware that this won’t remove all ads, but at least remove some of them.

You’re actually going to limit ad tracking, which is on by default. This helps Roku collect data freely from your search history and give you targeted advertisements. It’s easy to disable, just use the following steps:

1. Enter the Settings on your Roku home screen.
2. Choose Privacy.
3. Then tap on Advertising.
4. Next, enable the Limit Ad Tracking setting.
5. Finally, restart your device.

From then on you shouldn’t get any more targeted ads, which is great. You’ll still get generic ads from Roku, but don’t despair. You can actually block Roku ads from your router.

How to Block Ads on Roku from Your Router

There are some domains you can block from your router that will prevent some ads from popping up on your home screen. However, this still won’t block all ads. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Router-R6.
2. Click on the Advanced option.
3. Choose Security.
4. Click on Block Sites Containing These keywords or Domain Name.
5. Add http://cloudservices.roku.com and http://Analytichtpp://cloudservices.roku.com to the block list.
6. Also, tick the Enterprise Advertising & Analytics Solution to block it.
7. Restart your device.

This should stop Roku ads on YouTube and your Roku home screen. Don’t expect these methods to provide 100% protection against all commercials on Roku. They might be helpful for some devices, while for others they won’t.

How to Disable Interactive Commercials on Roku

If you thought regular commercials were annoying, imagine having a double set of commercials playing at the same time. Roku actually started doing this on the 9.2 updates for the Roku operating system.

These pop-up commercials only appear during commercial breaks, but they’re still an annoying distraction. Thankfully, there’s a way to disable these interactive commercials. Here are the steps:

1. Enter the Settings on your Roku home screen.
2. Go to Privacy.
3. Select Smart TV Experience.
4. Then turn off the Use Info from the TV Inputs option.
5. The interactive ads should stop appearing, if not, restart your Roku.

In addition to removing the interactive commercials, disabling this feature will also disable suggestions from Roku such as more ways to watch. This feature is based on ACR, short for Automated Content Recognition, which analyses your watching habits and recommends similar content or further episodes of the same show you watched.

These interactive commercials are actually only present on Roku TV devices. If you own a Roku streaming box or the regular Roku stick, you won’t have to disable these ads because they won’t even exist.

What About Ad Blockers?

The easiest solution for dealing with any ads on the internet is using an ad blocker. There are many great ad blockers for various browsers, but unfortunately, these don’t work on Roku devices. That’s a pity, but hold on.

As there is a third-party ad blocker you can use to block all internet ads from your entire network. It is called AdGuard DNS, and it’s totally free, easy to set up and use, without any apps or installations.

AdGuard can block ads on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Ubuntu devices, and can also block ads directly from your router. You can get all the information and setup steps for all platforms directly from their website.

This service is very versatile, and it can serve both for blocking commercials on Roku, or for family protection and blocking adult content. It blocks all ads, phishing, and tracking on your network. The AdGuard database is constantly updated so it keeps blocking all these negative elements.

Free at Last

If you find commercials irksome, you’re not alone. Finally, you can enjoy streaming content on your Roku without too many interruptions. We don’t guarantee that these methods will get rid of all the commercials on Roku, but they should at least reduce the amount.

Which of the suggested methods worked out the best for you? Do you have any additional questions or remarks? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.