Microsoft has released a new test build of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3495, which introduces ads for programs from the Windows Store in the Start menu. These ads are located in the “Recommended” section (in stable builds of Windows 11, it shows the user’s latest files) and are currently only shown in the United States.

Windows 11
This is how program ads look like in the recommendations of the Start menu of Winodws 11

“Building on top of recent improvements like grouping recently installed apps and showing your frequently used apps, we are now trying out recommendations to help you discover great apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended on the Start menu. This will appear only for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the U.S. and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations),” Microsoft said in a blog post.

At least in the test version of Windows 11, users can disable these ads by going to the Settings menu, selecting Personalization, then the Start section, and then turning off the “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, etc.” switch. It seems that Microsoft plans to activate the display of ads in the Start menu recommendations for all users. Unless the company receives negative feedback on this innovation during the test period. There have been such precedents.

Last year, the Windows 11 build for insiders included ads in Explorer, but they didn’t make it to the release, and the company decided to stop the experiment. So this time, much depends on the feedback from Windows testers.