In March 2022, Microsoft revealed several improvements for its app store on Windows 10 and 11. One of those improvements is the Microsoft Store Ads project. After several months of waiting, Microsoft is finally ready to start testing ads in its marketplace.
Microsoft Store Ads will follow the same idea Apple and Google use in their storefronts. When the user searches for something, the store displays contextual ads tailored for the specific customer. In addition to standard search results, Microsoft will show extra listings with the "Ad" badge, thus giving developers another method to promote their projects and customers to discover content they might like.
The company notes that only developers with published content in the Store can participate. Also, the program is currently in testing mode, meaning those wanting to join must provide Microsoft with their data using a dedicated form and wait for an invitation.
Microsoft announced the launch of Microsoft Store Ads alongside Windows 11 build 25188. The latter contains multiple fixes and improvements, which you can check in our coverage. In addition to launching an ad platform, Microsoft recently fixed a weird bug preventing the Store from displaying more than 2,000 reviews.