Microsoft may sneak ads in Start menu of Windows 11

Microsoft Windows 11

It has been revealed that Microsoft may soon start showing ads in its Windows 11 Start menu. Currently, this new setting is in beta testing and this information was first revealed by popular X (formerly known as Twitter) tipster PhantomOfEarth.

Windows 11 Start menu ads: Details

In PhantomOfEarth’s post, we can see screenshots of the Windows 11 Start menu, now sporting a “Promoted” spot for apps, which can be termed as advertisements. Currently, Microsoft displays various app recommendations within the ‘Pinned’ section of its Start menu, with shortcuts to apps that aren’t already installed on your system.

The leaked photo shows Opera Browser with a “Promoted” tag indicating that it’s an advertisement, along with the “browse safely” promo text, whereas the GameBar logo next to it has been listed as a “Frequently used app”.

This is similar to an earlier update from Windows in Windows 10, where many users saw the installation of unnecessary applications from Windows. It drew a lot of criticism from Microsoft, and eventually, users could uninstall those unwanted promotional apps or disable them from the Start menu.

Further, PhantomofEarth also revealed that the upcoming promotion of Windows 11 ads in the Start menu, can be turned off Windows 11 Personalisation Start menu. These advertisements are now visible in Windows 11 Insider builds but it looks likely to be integrated in upcoming Windows 11 stable builds.

This change could be the start of Window's promotion of the apps, which are mostly unused or ignored by users.  Assuming Microsoft goes forward with the change, we could see these banners or promotions in future Windows 11 builds or the upcoming Windows 12, which could be launched in late 2024.