Oh no, Microsoft is at it again! The Redmond-based software titan is no stranger to using its products to advertise other platforms and services it owns.
We have been seeing ads in Windows since the days of Windows 8, and the amount and intensity of ads in the operating system have ranged from occasional to downright intrusive. Seemingly, this is not something the company wants to change soon.
Office 2021 has become the latest such example of Redmond using its software to promote its service.
In this case, users have paid a one-off fee for software that is being advertised as a subscription-based Microsoft 365 product. These are folks who have made a conscious choice to purchase the suite of productivity apps rather than paying a monthly or annual subscription.
No wonder people are not impressed.
Lee Holmes, a PowerShell developer and Azure Security’s Principal Security Architect, has seen these new ads.
He took to Twitter to share his disappointment:
This is so disappointing. pic.twitter.com/1b9fVMnY2U
— Lee Holmes (@Lee_Holmes) August 12, 2022
He is far from alone in feeling frustrated with the appearance of advertising in a paid-for product.
In recent memory, Microsoft has annoyed many customers by displaying ads for Edge, Office, and OneDrive throughout Windows. The company has even promoted its games and select third-party applications to users who would rather not see these ads.
In this particular case, the ads appear in a bar beneath the Office toolbar and invite users to try out three months of Microsoft 365 Family for $0.99.
While this promotion is far from intrusive and actually offers a decent discount to those who are happy to switch to a subscription plan, that’s not the point.
The placement of this promotional link will definitely be a source of disappointment for these users who have already paid for their Office 2021 license. Worse yet, the company does not offer a way for these users to opt out of these ads.
Thoughts?