Microsoft has announced plans to test more ads in Windows 11, confirming an “upgrade” rumor first mooted over a year ago.
In a blog post announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3495, the company revealed that one of the changes would involve testing ad placements for apps you might enjoy in the Start menu’s “Recommended” panel.
“We’re currently testing recommendations to help you discover great apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended in the Start menu,” the post explains.
Below you’ll find a screenshot of what it might look like: The 1Password password manager appears next to recent files and freshly installed apps. There’s no indication in the screenshot that this isn’t already installed and will open a Microsoft Store window.
Perhaps wary of the backlash this might trigger, the message explicitly states that this can be disabled through Start’s personalization settings. If you tap the button next to “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, etc. “, you shouldn’t see him anymore.
Microsoft also emphasizes that this is something that is only being tested and that it welcomes feedback. “As a reminder, we regularly test new experiences and concepts that might never be released with Windows Insiders for feedback,” the message said. “If you see this experience in the Start Menu, let us know what you think.”
Microsoft has a history of promoting products under the guise that it’s a neutral recommendation to improve the user experience – like slipping Microsoft 365 ads into the Start menu and an experimental banner into File Explorer. And even though this latest update appears to be about third-party software, it still pushes people to the Microsoft Store, which is not how most people get their Windows software, even though the recommendation itself is judicious.
Even though most people accept that “recommendations” or outright advertisements are the price of free software, Windows still gets paid (even though, in reality, free upgrades to Windows 10 and Windows 11 mean that many users have not done so). paid for Windows in over a decade).
Unless Windows goes truly freemium, these “recommendations” – whether useful or not – will likely be ignored by testers who see them. It will be their feedback that will ultimately decide whether or not these ads will be shown to everyday users or if they will be rejected.