Samsung to display Ads on Smart Refrigerators, Starting This Month
IRVINE, CA – October 28, 2025 – In a move raising eyebrows among consumers, Samsung is set to begin displaying advertisements on the integrated screens of its Family Hub smart refrigerators, starting November 3rd. The decision comes as tech companies increasingly seek new avenues for advertising revenue, mirroring recent reports of Apple planning ads within its Maps app as early as next year.
Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators, priced between $1,899 and $3,499, feature displays ranging from 21.5 to 32 inches and are marketed as central hubs for family connection, offering features like photo sharing, recipe access, music streaming, calendar management, and Amazon shopping integration. Select models also include “AI Vision” technology for inventory tracking.
The ads will appear as a new widget on the refrigerator’s “Cover screen” when idle, alongside existing information like weather, calendar events, and news. Samsung initially tested a “pilot program” offering “promotions and curated advertisements” to a limited group of owners, as confirmed to Fortune last month. The rollout this week will expand ad delivery to all 2024 Family Hub refrigerators via a software update.
while users can currently opt-out of the advertisements thru the Settings menu’s Advertisements tab, doing so disables all widget functionality. Dismissed ads from a campaign will not reappear during that period, and ads will not be displayed when the Cover screen is set to art or album themes.
The move has surprised some customers, who purchased the refrigerators without anticipating advertising. Samsung plans to initially feature ads exclusively for its own products, but The Verge reports the company intends to open the platform to third-party advertisers in the future.
