It seems like Microsoft is considering using the Windows 11 Settings page as another platform to show more ads. They seem to believe that bombarding people with ads is an effective way to persuade them to buy their products. Recently, there have been reports of Microsoft testing and even introducing ads in various parts of the operating system, including the Start menu, File Explorer, and even full-screen ads.
Screenshots shared by Albacore on Twitter show ad cards appearing in Windows 11 Settings. Although there’s no specific timeline for this, it seems that Microsoft is using this as an opportunity to promote Microsoft 365 content, whether that’s a good or bad thing. The ad invites users to try the 365 service for free. Based on the screenshot of the Accounts page, it seems that the ad card appeared on the Settings homepage because the user had reached the end of support for Office 2013. Albacore notes that this change is visible in the Dev channel build 23451, so we’ll have to wait and see if this ad change sticks or gets removed.
Although it seems that Microsoft has made up its mind about including ads in Windows 11, there is a silver lining to this. Thankfully, we don’t have to deal with spam, adult content, or gambling ads for now. It remains to be seen if the ads will disappear once the user buys the product(s).
Updates were made to the Microsoft Account portion of the upcoming Settings Homepage, here's how it looks now + a preview of end of product support notices that can appear in the Account page pic.twitter.com/DwYEKqOb9n
— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) May 5, 2023