The software giant is experimenting with slipping ads for its services into the Windows 11 login menu…and people aren’t happy.
Microsoft seems adamant that it will get advertisements on your system no matter what. Now the company has been caught adding ads to the login menu prompting users to create a Microsoft account or use OneDrive.
A new product from Microsoft
The news comes from Ars-Technica, which in turn saw the news hit Twitter. User @thebookisclosed spotted a new entry in the Windows 11 sign-in menu, prompting them to create a Microsoft account or use OneDrive.
Responses ranged from disgust at the new ads to users stating that it’s something that can be turned off, so there’s nothing to worry about. However, noteworthy is the response from Brandon LeBlanc, the Senior Program Manager for Windows Insider.
LeBlanc said that’s to be expected, as the team informed users of this change in the patch notes. However, others were quick to point out that these small ads use the attention-grabbing “notification dot,” usually reserved for important system-related actions, like updates. This makes the ads a bit more intrusive than some would like.
The big revenue problem for Microsoft
Microsoft has a bit of a monetization problem right now. With the slow adoption of Windows 11 and the free update the software giant gave users of older versions of Windows, it’s likely that Microsoft’s latest operating system won’t make as much money. than he hoped.
So how is Microsoft getting more money from its current Windows 11 users? The company has attempted to monetize Windows 11 apps in the past, with the most recent example being when Microsoft introduced Clipchamp, a video editor that came preinstalled with Windows 11. It was free to use, but if you wanted to make videos superior at 480p, you had to pay.
Unfortunately, user response has been negative towards this plan. As a result, Microsoft has changed Clipchamp’s pricing tiers so users can render at 1080p for free. This was great news for its users, but it meant that Clipchamp was not the money-making machine Microsoft had been counting on.
As a result, Microsoft is stuck with a user base that doesn’t like being forced to use a specific app and doesn’t like paying for pre-installed software. As such, it’s now turning to advertising in Windows, a tactic we saw when Microsoft added ads to File Explorer.
With so much hate towards these ads, it probably won’t be long before users figure out how to turn them off or disable the feature entirely. And so Microsoft’s attempts to cash in on Windows 11 will continue.
Windows 11 advertising issues continue
With Microsoft experimenting with the new Windows 11 login menu ads, it’s likely we’ll see more efforts to monetize the operating system in the future. But with such resistance to the plan, can Microsoft make Windows 11 a profitable business, or will people just turn them off and ignore them?
