Microsoft: Threat of adverts in Windows 11?

Until now, Microsoft did not use advertising in its own operating system. This is now to change with Windows 11. It is possible that advertising banners for products of the tech company from Redmond, USA, will soon be displayed in the in-house Windows Explorer. Corresponding tests are already taking place.

Advertising for in-house products

For die-hard Windows users, a look at Windows Explorer may soon seem a bit unusual. This by no means refers to new features, which will make their way into the latest Insider build. Rather, it refers to a new element that Microsoft has integrated in its own sense. According to Windows expert and insider Flobo09, advertising banners may soon be displayed under Windows 11. This is said to be in the latest version of Windows Explorer. Flobo09 shared his insight in the short message service Twitter. To read was in the banner the following:

“Trust Microsoft Editor’s advanced writing suggestions to write in documents, emails or on the web”

This looks familiar…

The idea of Microsoft to place advertisements in its own applications is not really new. However, the company always relied on the advertising of in-house applications. We could already observe ads in the now somewhat old Windows 10. Microsoft tested banners in its Windows Explorer in 2016. At that time, you could also see ads for programs like Microsoft OneDrive. This did not really go down well six years ago. The Windows community was sometimes very annoyed about the ads for their own products. However, this was not a reason for Microsoft to turn away. Quite the opposite.

Instead, the company surprised its customers with new advertisements in 2021, where the advantages of Microsoft’s own browser, Microsoft Edge, were pointed out on the screen. On top of that, Windows 10 users were informed about the upcoming successor Windows 11 in 2020. And that was not all. The fact that Windows primarily relies on topic-specific advertising also became clear with the advertising within the Windows Mail app. Here, the operator of the operating system cleverly pointed to Outlook. These examples make it clear that it is anything but far-fetched that we will also get to see ads in Windows 11.

Should we expect third-party advertising?

So far, Microsoft has only relied on advertising for its own products. Third-party vendors can’t run ads yet. Not yet, at least. We are curious whether this will change in the future and Microsoft will use the advertising option as an additional source of income.