Microsoft may want to add a dedicated Windows 11 button for ads and promos

The Recommended section on the Windows 11 Start menu is a hot topic among users, and it seems Microsoft itself is not too sure about the right way to proceed with it without coming across as forceful or invasive to users.

First introduced in the original release (21H2), the company has made tweaks and changes to it over time, trying to find the right balance. Once, it was also contemplating renaming the Recommended portion to "For You," perhaps to appeal to more of the casual audience out there who are familiar with it elsewhere like Instagram or Twitter (now X) or TikTok.

However, it is not unfair to say that most of the enthusiast kind don't really find it too appealing. Searches about removing the Recommended content from the Start menu are generally a top result on Google, which shows that there are certainly quite a few out there that don't like it. Neowin has also published a guide on that if you want to check it out.

There is a good reason why users are so annoyed by it. Microsoft added recommended websites under this section, something which it removed in a consequent build. However, the recommended websites were not dead yet, as the tech giant brought it back again in May this year, where webpages were suggested to users.

And Microsoft later added Settings menu toggle for new apps, tips, shortcuts, and such. The option is now being tweaked as it will also add 'app promotions' too.

Meanwhile, the toggle tweak above is not the worst thing Microsoft may be looking to do. The company is seemingly contemplating on whether to add a new "Recommended button on the Taskbar. Interestingly, it is unfinished at the moment, or perhaps Microsoft is just not sure if it should proceed with this button at all.

It must be added that not every change Microsoft has made related to its Recommended section has been bad. Last year, it made a really useful UX change such that hovering over a Recommended item would display its location.

Source