When is an ad an advertisement and not a recommendation? Microsoft clearly likes to use the term recommendation for what others may see as an advertisement.

There are recommendations in the Start menu, Settings app, Lock screen, File Explorer, Get Help app, and other areas of the operating system already.  These are often not that useful. App recommendations in the Start menu are limited to Microsoft Store apps.

Now, Microsoft is testing recommendations in the Microsoft Store app. If you never use the app, you won't be exposed to these. If you do, you may notice recommendations popping up when you try to use the built-in search.

First spotted by phantomofearth on X, two or three recommendations are shown whenever search is activated in the official Microsoft Store app.

We were able to verify this independently in the latest Windows 11 Insider build.  Whether the feature will make it into stable versions of Windows 11 remains to be seen. The chance that it does seems good though.

Recommendations seem to focus mostly on games at this point, with popular games such as Homescapes, Forza Horizon 5, or Sea of Thieves 2024 Edition being recommended to the user. Some are free to play, usually with some form of in-game monetization scheme, others need to be bought before they can be played.

For Microsoft, it is a way to advertise apps and games to the Windows user. It is unclear if Microsoft is receiving compensation for these.

To be fair; compared to Google Play, the main store for Android apps, and Apple's App Store, the Microsoft Store is pretty tame when it comes to ads or sponsored content. It is probably not used as widely as those two stores.

Many Windows users prefer to get their programs from other places and not the Microsoft Store with its rather limited selection of apps and games.

Closing Words

If one thing is certain, it is that Windows users should expect more ads in Windows in the future. Whether Microsoft will change its course eventually remains to be seen. For now, the company seems to be all-in on pushing its services and content in the Windows operating system.

What about you? Do you mind these type of recommendations in the operating systems that you use? Feel free to leave a comment down below.