After a short test, Microsoft appears to have started rolling out ‘app recommendations’ in the Windows 11 start menu. The advertisements will be included with a new update from this week.
Microsoft has been working on incorporating recommendations and advertisements into Windows 11 for some time now. Consider, for example, advertisements for Office 365 if you do not have a subscription, or the new ‘Copilot’ button that should get users used to Microsoft’s AI assistant.
Start
The start menu now also receives these types of recommendations. This concerns advertisements for apps in the Windows Store that are shown as ‘recommended’ or ‘recommended’ at the bottom of the menu. Microsoft briefly tested the system last month through its Insider program, as previously noted by tech site The Verge. Now it is also coming to the broader public via an update. The update in question is KB5036980 and, in addition to improvements for widgets, among other things, it also contains the updated recommendations section.
If you want to turn it off, you can. You do this by going to Settings and clicking Start under Personal settings. Here you will find a slider for ‘Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps and more’ in Dutch.
