Microsoft PC Manager for Windows 11 is now showing Microsoft 365 ads

Ads in Windows 11 are a controversial topic, and it’s also subjective because Microsoft is recommending its products, not third-party ones. We’ve already seen alerts in the Settings apps, and now we’re seeing a Microsoft 365 alert/ad inside PC Manager, a popular app that allows you to remove junk from the PC, so it runs faster.

Microsoft has an interesting approach that allows small product teams based out of the company to make their apps or services without approval from the senior leadership, and PC Manager is one of those apps. Other apps include Microsoft Launcher, which was originally an idea of the Microsoft Garage team.

PC Manager isn’t made by the engineers based out of the United States. It’s an app developed by Microsoft China and is very popular in South Asia. PC Manager allows you to free memory, boost performance and clean storage with just one click.

For obvious reasons, PC Manager struggles to generate revenue for Microsoft, which is why it’s now showing ads for Microsoft 365:

As you can see in the above screenshot, there is a recommendation to use Microsoft 365 in the PC Manager app. The ad titled “Take Microsoft 365 on the go” promotes the mobile version of the service. When we clicked the ad, it opened the Windows 11 Microsoft 365 webpage.

“Download mobile apps to work seamlessly across your devices,” the ad reads and has a link with anchor text “Discover more tips.”

It’s not hard to see the approach and intent of the company here: that’s bundling mindless ads for products in a simple memory cleaner app for Windows. What’s worse is that it’s not possible to dismiss the recommendation because it’s a part of the interface, and is technically a feature.

We don’t have any qualms with the PC Manager. In fact, it’s quite useful for a quick memory boost, ending resource-intensive tasks, and junk. It spares you the effort of opening these simple utilities on your PC and acts as a gateway.

However, the tips section must be limited to suggestions that are relevant for using the app effectively and not promoting Office or any app, for that matter.

The Settings app has already tried its level best to promote Office 365 and Xbox Game Pass. No one likes ads in apps. The weather app and many other Microsoft utilities are already full of them.

Microsoft should take a pause to think about the implications of being harsh on paid users running a licensed version of its OS.

It’s not the first time

Previously, we covered news regarding the PC Manager app promoting Bing as the default search engine. It was also disguised as a tip to “repair” your PC by changing the search engine.

As you can see in the above screenshot, the PC Manager offered a “repair tip” to restore Edge’s default search engine, “Bing.”

We don’t think Microsoft will stop here because these ads or recommendations have become an industry standard. Google has been doing it for a decade, and if you compare both companies, Microsoft’s tactics are significantly better.

What do you think of this strategy? Let us know in the comments below.