Microsoft continues to frustrate users with in-system ads – this time with the MSN Weather app
Microsoft has made a new move to push more advertising into Windows 11, with new ads in the pre-installed Weather app. So in addition to the likes of the Start menu and the Settings app, the MSN Weather app will now also feature ads – another more intrusive attempt, again pointing to a system-wide “adpocalypse” so to speak.
According to Windows LatestA new server-side update is now placing two ads in the default Weather app as soon as you open it, and the situation is more dire than usual because the ads in question are fixed. In other words, even as you scroll down and look at the forecasts and other details in the app, the ads scroll too, and remain visible at all times.
This is a fairly aggressive approach, similar to the Game Pass ad in the Settings app – and as I said in that case, it seems like Microsoft is trying to usher in a whole new era of over-advertising. I fear that as time goes on, not only will we see more of these types of ads, but they may become more aggressive in terms of non-skippability and generally unavoidable.
Okay, you could argue that these are just little ads in the corner, and that we’re all supposed to ignore or skip ads in so much of our lives these days – but why should I have to do that on my PC too? You’re telling me the new normal is just ads everywhere I look – and that no piece of technology belongs to me?
I paid for my PC and its operating system, and I don’t expect to see ads (which you might expect with a free operating system, but not with an operating system you have to pay for).
While these are relatively small ads at this point, the fear is that Microsoft will push the boundaries in the future. If—or when, perhaps—these ads become more widely accepted, we could see personalized, larger, unavoidable, and perhaps even unskippable ads in Windows 11 (or a future version of the desktop operating system) someday.
It’s not like these ads are being placed in some obscure spot in Windows 11; you’ll often find yourself opening the Settings app, the Start menu, or maybe checking the weather forecast, and so on. If more ads are being placed in more prominent places, at what point does it become annoying to use your computer? It’s a dangerous path to go down with Windows 11, but one that Microsoft unfortunately seems willing to explore.