Users see Microsoft 365 advertising in Office 2021

Microsoft is once again trying to build self-promotion into its Office products. In recent days, some users have seen advertisements that should convince them to take out a discounted subscription. The Redmond company appears to be testing several variants. In addition to the option to complete a Microsoft 365 membership, there is still the option to purchase a separate license for Office 2021.

Some users prefer to pay only once for a product. Because a subscription binds customers longer, the Redmond company is trying to persuade users to switch. Now, such ads also appear in the Office products themselves, provided the apps run with an Office 2021 license. Microsoft 365 customers will of course not see the ad.

At this point, the ads appear to be shown only to individual users. Twitter user Lee Holmes saw the ad in Word and shared a screenshot. The “limited offer” of getting the three-month family membership for 99 cents is presented to him.

Ads are currently being tested

Noisy bleeding computer (through Ghacks) a differently worded variant of the ad was shown to other users. So Microsoft seems to be testing different versions of the ad and seeing which variant gets the most clicks. It is currently unclear whether Microsoft will show the ad banners to a larger number of users in the future.

However, the Redmond-based company has already expanded the presence of such self-promotion in the past. In the spring it was announced that Microsoft was experimenting with Windows ads in File Explorer. Although Microsoft has returned here, the Edge browser was previously advertised in Settings and via the taskbar.