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Windows 11 update turned on ads
With the latest update in Windows 11, Microsoft enabled ads in the Start menu for all users. After a brief test with Windows Insiders earlier this month, Microsoft this week began distributing the KB5036980 update to Windows 11 users, which includes "recommendations" for apps from the Microsoft Store in the Start menu.
"The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some apps from the Microsoft Store," says the update notes in the latest public release of Windows 11. "These apps come from a small set of select developers." The ads are intended to help Windows 11 users discover more apps, but they will largely benefit developers as Microsoft tries to entice them to build more apps for Windows.
Microsoft only started testing these ads two weeks ago, so it's surprising that this "feature" has progressed from Beta to full release in such a short period of time. Somehow, we all hoped that Microsoft would abandon the idea of ads after all, after the flood of negative comments, but apparently the analysis showed that it can afford the fury of users in exchange for more revenue.
Fortunately, you can disable these ads, or “recommendations” as Microsoft calls them. If you have installed the latest update KB5036980, go to Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off the “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more” switch. Although the KB5036980 update is currently optional, Microsoft will be rolling it out to all Windows 11 PCs in the coming weeks.
Microsoft's move to enable ads in the Windows 11 Start menu follows similar promotional spots in the Lock screen and Start menu of Windows 10. Microsoft also began testing ads in File Explorer in Windows 11 last year, then defended, that it was just an experiment. Let's hope it stays that way.
