Update: In a statement to the edgeWindows Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc said, “This was an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and has been turned off.” So it seems that adding ads at this point was unintentional.
extreme technology We’re convinced that ad placement is one of the features we’ll see rolling out in the future. However, Windows did not say anything of the sort.
Original story: Microsoft is no stranger to Advertising infiltrates their products, often to general dissatisfaction, and it seems that it may happen again. People were really starting to get frustrated after a Windows Insider found a small ad bar for Microsoft Services in their Explorer window.
Windows Insider shared a screenshot of the updated Explorer window on Twitter (via computer bleeding), where they go flobo09. The image shows an ad in a bar font below the address bar in Explorer, encouraging users to click a button to learn more about Microsoft Editor. Flobo09 cleverly notes that this is something Windows users won’t be happy about, and it was immediately proven correct by the responses to their initial tweet.
Some people would go crazy if Microsoft started adding ads in Explorer. pic.twitter.com/rusnyrYyX212 March 2022
Since Explorer is a very essential part of using Windows, people are very upset. Don’t expect ads to be displayed while browsing your private files. Since Windows is a paid service from a huge company, unlike some free trial programs.
However, as Flobo09 notes in other tweets, this may be an overreaction. The advertising is very minimal and they suspect it will be an opt-out feature. The current advertisement for Microsoft Editor is also for a free service for browsers and included with Microsoft subscription services for other uses.
Microsoft Editor is just a writing aid that picks up general grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It’s not a huge or particularly necessary service, and it seems that not many people have heard of it in the past. It’s rather unlikely that someone would sign up just for this, so it looks like it could be meant as a PSA or tip, and not a direct advertisement.
It’s still fair that we shouldn’t expect to see this kind of thing in Explorer and Microsoft has a history of infiltrating ads So the immediate public outcry is easy to understand. We hope this helps by alerting Microsoft to what users hope to see moving forward, as it is definitely not ads in Explorer. After all, that’s the point of insiders and tests like this. In the end, it could be because Microsoft is making this optional, or finding a better way to implement it.
“Writer. Friendly troublemaker. Lifelong food junkie. Professional beer evangelist.”