Microsoft tests 'upsells' of its products in Windows 11 sign-out menu
(2022/11/08)
- Reference: 1667923211
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/11/08/windows_tests_ads_in_windows_11/
- Source link:
Windows appears to be testing ads in the user session flyout menu (where you sign out, lock, or change settings) of Windows 11 preview builds, with clearly annoyed Windows Insider, Albacore, sharing screenshots on Twitter.
The feature test shows ads in the flyout menu, which prompts users to back up their files to OneDrive, among other promo messages.
Do we really need to stuff OneDrive promos in the user session flyout? Anything for that sweet sweet KPI 😠[1]pic.twitter.com/ZsQGmkntDS — Albacore (@thebookisclosed) [2]November 6, 2022
As with previous [3]attempts to include ads in Windows , and in keeping with Windows current Insider testing model, it looks to be part of an A/B style push. Although not every Insider will be treated to a view, and (because it's a preview feature) it's comforting to know might not ultimately become a part of the Windows 11 production OS. Still it is sure to test the patience of its unpaid testers.
Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update tweaked to stop you disabling app promos [4]READ MORE
Windows Insider Program Team Senior Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc was quick to defend the move on the Twitter thread as insiders piled on, [5]noting that: "We documented we're trying some variations of this out with Windows Insiders."
LeBlanc appears to have been referring to a October 19 [6]post where Microsoft (from its point of view) talked about the testing in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25227, with a terse bullet point under Changes and Improvements stating: "We are trying out a small change to the Start menu where some Insiders will see badging on their user profile notifying them that certain actions need to be taken."
[7]Microsoft mulls cheap PCs supported by ads, subs
[8]Want the very latest Windows Insider Dev Channel build? Check your disk space
[9]Microsoft plans to dig through your Edge Collections to make suggestions
[10]How experimental was Microsoft's 'experimental banner' in File Explorer?
But you can see why no one who read that bulletin a few weeks back would immediately think: "Oh, I've been clearly notified that Microsoft will be advertising paid products in the user session menu."
Albacore grumbled: "There's a difference between a bullet point about badging for 'certain actions' and proper screenshots of those actions turning out to be upsells."
Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality [11]READ MORE
In March this year, testers spotted ads in Windows Insiders' File Explorer, prompting some users to suggest the team had "lost their damn minds."
LeBlanc at the time said the inclusion was a mistake, [12]telling El Reg : "This was an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and was turned off."
The Windows 10 Start Menu also includes ads, although you can turn these off by toggling the Menu setting that reads: "Occasionally show suggestions in Start."
[13]
Microsoft also infamously once tried to include [14]third-party advertising in its Windows 10 Mail client, although, to paraphrase our headline at the time, it then "U-turned so hard, it warped fabric of reality."
[15]
The Windows giant has previously said that some of these suggestions, though they're for its own products, might be helpful for new users unsure of how or where to back up, or whether they need a Microsoft account, however, if the user session menu feature makes it out of testing, the presence of the promos might be unavoidable because of where it put them.
We've asked Microsoft for comment. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://t.co/ZsQGmkntDS
[2] https://twitter.com/thebookisclosed/status/1589350496711495680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/file_explorer_ad/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/29/windows_10_pro_anniversary_update_tweaked_to_stop_users_disabling_cloud_ads/
[5] https://twitter.com/brandonleblanc/status/1589775717566656512
[6] https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2022/10/19/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-25227/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/02/microsoft_windows_pc_ads/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/want_the_very_latest_windows/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/30/edge_collections/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/17/file_explorer_windows_ads/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/17/windows_10_mail_client_adverts/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/file_explorer_ad/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y2qLKl80DYqWBF3jmcBT2QAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/17/windows_10_mail_client_adverts/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2qLKl80DYqWBF3jmcBT2QAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The feature test shows ads in the flyout menu, which prompts users to back up their files to OneDrive, among other promo messages.
Do we really need to stuff OneDrive promos in the user session flyout? Anything for that sweet sweet KPI 😠[1]pic.twitter.com/ZsQGmkntDS — Albacore (@thebookisclosed) [2]November 6, 2022
As with previous [3]attempts to include ads in Windows , and in keeping with Windows current Insider testing model, it looks to be part of an A/B style push. Although not every Insider will be treated to a view, and (because it's a preview feature) it's comforting to know might not ultimately become a part of the Windows 11 production OS. Still it is sure to test the patience of its unpaid testers.
Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update tweaked to stop you disabling app promos [4]READ MORE
Windows Insider Program Team Senior Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc was quick to defend the move on the Twitter thread as insiders piled on, [5]noting that: "We documented we're trying some variations of this out with Windows Insiders."
LeBlanc appears to have been referring to a October 19 [6]post where Microsoft (from its point of view) talked about the testing in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25227, with a terse bullet point under Changes and Improvements stating: "We are trying out a small change to the Start menu where some Insiders will see badging on their user profile notifying them that certain actions need to be taken."
[7]Microsoft mulls cheap PCs supported by ads, subs
[8]Want the very latest Windows Insider Dev Channel build? Check your disk space
[9]Microsoft plans to dig through your Edge Collections to make suggestions
[10]How experimental was Microsoft's 'experimental banner' in File Explorer?
But you can see why no one who read that bulletin a few weeks back would immediately think: "Oh, I've been clearly notified that Microsoft will be advertising paid products in the user session menu."
Albacore grumbled: "There's a difference between a bullet point about badging for 'certain actions' and proper screenshots of those actions turning out to be upsells."
Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality [11]READ MORE
In March this year, testers spotted ads in Windows Insiders' File Explorer, prompting some users to suggest the team had "lost their damn minds."
LeBlanc at the time said the inclusion was a mistake, [12]telling El Reg : "This was an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and was turned off."
The Windows 10 Start Menu also includes ads, although you can turn these off by toggling the Menu setting that reads: "Occasionally show suggestions in Start."
[13]
Microsoft also infamously once tried to include [14]third-party advertising in its Windows 10 Mail client, although, to paraphrase our headline at the time, it then "U-turned so hard, it warped fabric of reality."
[15]
The Windows giant has previously said that some of these suggestions, though they're for its own products, might be helpful for new users unsure of how or where to back up, or whether they need a Microsoft account, however, if the user session menu feature makes it out of testing, the presence of the promos might be unavoidable because of where it put them.
We've asked Microsoft for comment. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://t.co/ZsQGmkntDS
[2] https://twitter.com/thebookisclosed/status/1589350496711495680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/file_explorer_ad/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/29/windows_10_pro_anniversary_update_tweaked_to_stop_users_disabling_cloud_ads/
[5] https://twitter.com/brandonleblanc/status/1589775717566656512
[6] https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2022/10/19/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-25227/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/02/microsoft_windows_pc_ads/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/want_the_very_latest_windows/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/30/edge_collections/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/17/file_explorer_windows_ads/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/17/windows_10_mail_client_adverts/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/file_explorer_ad/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y2qLKl80DYqWBF3jmcBT2QAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/17/windows_10_mail_client_adverts/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2qLKl80DYqWBF3jmcBT2QAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
J.G.Harston
More and more of these things are pissing off corporate IT Admins as the users don't know what on earth is happening, and think it must be something to do with their job, and click and follow and allow stuff, and we have to keep chasing our tails getting rid of it all.
Just last month, *something* changed in Outlook because Microsoft were pushing it through updates, and some users were blithely clicking on things "oh, it's The Computer, it must be what I have to do".
(checks notes) Ah, that's it. Microsoft "Improved" Outlook by moving the toolbar from the bottom of the lefthand pane to its own immovable pane. We had users booking tickets saying they couldn't remember how /they'd/ "messed up", and could we fix it for them. To which we were forced to answer: No. MS have buggered it up, there's nothing we can do about it. After hours and hours of trying, and eventually tracking down exactly WTF had actually happened.
In-use ads? Here's a suggestion Microsoft:
Piss Off and take your operating system with you.