Microsoft is now promoting some of its products in the sign-out flyout menu that shows up when clicking the user icon in the Windows 11 start menu.
This new Windows 11 "feature" was discovered by Windows enthusiast Albacore, who shared several screenshots of advertisement notifications in the Accounts flyout.
The screenshots show that Microsoft promotes the OneDrive file hosting service and prods users to create or complete their Microsoft accounts.
Those reacting to this on social media had an adverse reaction to Redmond's decision to display promotional messages in the start menu.
Some said that Windows 11 is "getting worse in each and every update it gets," while others added that this is a weird choice given that "half of the Start Menu is for recommendations" anyway.
BleepingComputer has also tried replicating this on multiple Windows 11 systems, but we didn't get any ads.
This hints at an A/B testing experiment trying to gauge the success of such a "feature" on devices running Windows Insider builds or the company pushing such ads to a limited set of customers.
Ads in the File Explorer, the Start Menu, and more
Redmond has pushed ads within the user interface of Microsoft Office apps or other Windows apps before.
In August, the company displayed ads for Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions to Office 2021 customers, with discounts of more than $28 for a 3-month Family plan subscription.
Months earlier, in March, Windows Insiders started seeing ads for some Microsoft products (including Microsoft Editor) in the File Explorer app.
File Explorer also got injected with promotional messages in 2016 when Redmond used it to show OneDrive ads.
Two years ago, the Windows 10 Wordpad application showed ads pushing Microsoft's free Office web apps in its menu bar.
Microsoft was also caught advertising its Microsoft Edge web browser in the Windows 10 Start Menu when users searched for competing browsers.
Unfortunately, some of these advertisement tests also had unintended consequences: Microsoft accidentally broke the Windows Start Menu and Taskbar while testing Microsoft Teams ads on Windows Insider builds systems.
A Microsoft spokesperson was not available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer earlier today.
Comments
greg18 - 1 year ago
None of that qualifies as advertisement for anything.
KyleAyle - 1 year ago
They are not just giving random computer tips (which nobody asked for anyway). They are showing those notifications to promote the use of Microsoft services. So yes, they are advertisements.
h_b_s - 1 year ago
I shouldn't have to do this, but apparently vocabulary is lacking in this day and age.
advertising: : the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements - Merriam Webster Dictionary
This is by definition advertising no matter what Microsoft or random wits on the Internet tries to tell you. Just because it's their own products doesn't change that fact.
Hmm888 - 1 year ago
The random internet wits are either shills or are the same people who post glowing reviews online especially in App Stores about an app that is mediocre with the belief that in the doing s, they will obtaining some karma points as a form of good luck. Oh, and let's not forget about toxic positivity/optimism. No "negative vibes".
Echo64 - 1 year ago
They are highlighting features/settings available in the OS, sure it's annoying, but I wouldn't personally classify these as ads.
ricrok - 1 year ago
Been seeing ads in Windows 10 22H2 for a while.
TsVk! - 1 year ago
If you want to stop them look into the CSAND script at Spiceworks.
JustinFlynn - 1 year ago
Sure this is advertising. No different than the pay to win games and streaming services that are listed all over the place. I hate it. Not being able to easily remove these from Pro version is why I haven't switched us to 11 yet.
Hmm888 - 1 year ago
Oh yes, ads galore. Should you buy a third party utility in the hopes of preventing these sorts of ads, your PC will run slower.
I would like to say this will cause people to shift to other OS versions, but very few will. Just like very few use another browser besides Edge.
greg18 - 1 year ago
"Oh yes, ads galore. Should you buy a third party utility in the hopes of preventing these sorts of ads, your PC will run slower.
I would like to say this will cause people to shift to other OS versions, but very few will. Just like very few use another browser besides Edge. "Nothing shown in those pictures or in real life use of Windows qualifies as Microsoft advertising any products. They are highlighting features and putting reminders up for users to be aware of. No third-party utility is going to stop what is coded into the OS for these reminders.