How to Block Ads on Your Samsung, LG, and Roku Smart TVs
Each October, my smart TV's home screen traumatizes my children with advertisements for whichever big horror movie is coming out for Halloween. That would be bad enough, but it isn't just scary movies that are advertising once a year: Smart TV companies have injected ads into their platforms to play year-round, forcing you to dodge these promotions whenever you want to watch a show or movie.
In researching how to stop these horror ads from popping up on my TV, I found one solution that seems to work well: blocking the domains from which the TV obtains the ads. While it is a little involved and doesn't apply to all brands (Vizio is one of the notable exceptions), it does appear to work for most Samsung, LG, and Roku smart TVs. If you have one of these TVs, and you're sick of these ads, too, give this a shot:
Log into your internet router
To change any of your router's settings, you'll need to log into it using your web browser. Start by typing your router's IP address into your browser's address bar to access it. That might sound daunting, but it probably isn't. Nowadays, most routers use the same IP address: 192.168.1.1. Other commonly used IP addresses are:
- http://192.168.0.1
- http://192.168.0.254
- http://192.168.1.254
If you see a login screen after you hit return, you've used the correct IP address. If not, follow our instructions here for locating your router's IP address on both Mac and Windows.
Once you've entered the correct IP address, it's time to log into your router. It's okay if you don't remember creating a username and password for your router—you probably never did. You can likely log into it using the default name and password. Just look for your router on this list here. If you have any more questions about logging into your router, check out our article on the topic.
Find the settings page
Your router's settings page is where web addresses to be blocked and filtered are listed, but different router manufacturers use various names to describe it. You're most likely to find it under the name "Security," "Firewall," or "Parental Controls."
Add the domains you want to block
You should now be on the screen where you list the domains you want to block.
If you have a Samsung TV, list these domains:
- samsungads.com
- events.samsungads.com
- config.samsungads.com
- static.doubleclick.net
- tvx.adgrx.com
- samsungotn.net
- samsungrm.net
- samsung.net/ads
- gpm.samsungqbe.com
- log-config.samsungacr.com
- samsungacr.com
- samsungcloudsolution.com
- samsungcloudsolution.net
If you have a LG TV, list these domains:
- ngfts.lge.com
- us.ad.lgsmartad.com
- us.info.lgsmartad.com
- lgad.cjpowercast.com
- edgesuite.net
- ad.lgappstv.com
- smartclip.com
- smartclip.net
- smartshare.lgtvsdp.com
- us.ibs.lgappstv.com
- us.lgtvsdp.com
- us.rdx2.lgtvsdp.com
- yumenetworks.com
- aic-ngfts.lge.com
If you have a Roku smart TV, list these domains:
- cooper.logs.roku.com
- track.sr.roku.com
- p.ads.roku.com
- bif.sr.roku.com
- traces.sr.roku.com
- cloudservices.roku.com
- scribe.logs.roku.com
- amarillo.sb.roku.com
If you can't log into your router
If your attempts at logging into your router aren't going well, that's okay. Instead, try creating a free account at OpenDNS, a cloud-based internet service that offers services from phishing protection to domain blocking. After setting up your account, you can block the domains on the Web Content Filtering page.
With any luck, your children will no longer need to be subjected to horror movie ads while trying to watch Bluey.
After discovering that tech companies include ads on smart TVs, I decided to take action and block these domains to prevent the ads from disrupting our viewing experience. For Samsung smart TVs, I need to add domains such as samsungads.com and samsung.net/ads to the block list.
If I'm unable to log into my router to block the ads, I could consider using OpenDNS, a free cloud-based service, to help block the problematic domains on their Web Content Filtering page. This way, I can ensure that my children won't have to endure ads for horror movies while watching their favorite shows like Bluey.
