Windows 11 update brings advertisements to the start menu

A recent update sees Windows 11 now displays ads via the Start menu for all users. The recent KB5036980 optional update enabled this function and features ‘recommendations’ that advertise apps listed in the Microsoft store. Though this update is optional for now, one may speculate that Microsoft could eventually make this a mandatory update.

It also seems that the company has implemented this with little time to gather feedback from its Beta users. The developers initially implemented this change in its Windows 11 preview build 22635.3495 two weeks ago, which gives very little time to gather sufficient feedback from a limited set of Beta testers. Hence, one would question the company’s haste in implementing this.