Microsoft introduces more ads in mobile Outlook applications and looks like email
CTOnews.com, Aug. 23, according to TheVerge, in recent months, Microsoft has begun to place more ads on iOS and Android's Outlook mobile apps.
Outlook mobile apps provide users with two options to organize their inboxes: a single inbox that contains all messages, and a tagged inbox that divides messages into two categories, namely "key"-containing important messages, and "other"-containing all other content. Microsoft used to place ads only on the "other" tab of free users, but now the company is adding ads to a single inbox mode.
Ads in Outlook on iOS
The change, which has been around for months, means Microsoft has made it harder for free users to avoid ads on Outlook phones. No matter which inbox mode you use, there will always be ads, either at the top of the "other" tab or at the top of your regular inbox, and now the only way to avoid ads in Outlook App is to pay a subscription fee for Microsoft 365.
Microsoft confirmed the change to The Verge. "for free Outlook users, ads are displayed in their inboxes, and if they want to see ads only in their 'other' inboxes, they can choose to enable the 'Focused inbox' feature," Microsoft spokesman Caitlin Roulston said in a statement.
CTOnews.com learned that the ads appeared at the top of the inbox and looked like a real email, similar to the way Microsoft and Google display ads in the online versions of Outlook and Gmail. Users can swipe to delete e-mail-like ads, but they will soon reappear, and opening the ads will display the content in the in-app browser.
No one likes advertising, and Microsoft's practice has caused dissatisfaction among many users, and Outlook users have left many one-star comments and complaints about the app on Apple's App Store. Some people on Twitter and Reddit are also unhappy with more ads on Outlook mobile, but now the only way to avoid ads altogether is to subscribe to Microsoft 365.
