Microsoft Says It Is Merely Experimenting With Ads in Windows 11’s File Explorer ⇥ theverge.com

Tom Warren, the Verge:

Microsoft appears to be testing a new type of ad inside File Explorer on Windows 11. Microsoft MVP and Twitter user Florian Beaubois discovered an ad in the latest test build of Windows 11, prompting users to check out the Microsoft Editor. While the ads might have appeared for some Windows 11 users, Microsoft says it was a mistake.

“This was an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and was turned off,” says Brandon LeBlanc, senior program manager for Windows, in a statement to The Verge.

This still had to be built. Someone had to write the code to display ads in File Explorer and integrate it into this build of Windows 11. Someone thought this was a good idea.

Much like Apple’s ads for services it is depositing throughout the system, nobody wants this. Sometimes, businesses need to learn to leave money on the table when their reputation and the cost to users’ trust is at stake.