Um, Skype is here to stay, then? Some may say that Microsoft never really did a good job marketing its premier VoIP communications platform when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic hit.
And they may have a case.
The focus for Microsoft was solely Teams, which is why there were murmurs that Microsoft Teams would overtake Skype as the platform of choice for Redmond. Well, it appears that the company is having none of it, and has started promoting Skype.
Only, in the wrong place.
Skype ads are discovered right in the Windows 10 Search user interface, and what’s really interesting is that the advertisement pops up even without typing anything. In other words, simply clicking the search icon on the taskbar triggers the Skype ad in the lower part of the UI.
This is what it says:
“Meet with anyone. Host meetings for free on Skype. No sing-up or download required.”
Users are provided with a link to get started with Skype, along with an option to close the ad by simply clicking the small X button in the right corner.
To be honest, users have been a bit annoyed with Microsoft’s recent promotion strategy, as it definitely leaves a lot to be desired.
Luckily, this ad does not show up for everybody. But the interesting thing is that several users are claiming that Skype was suddenly enabled on their devices all of a sudden without they specifically installing the application on their own.
Scary!
