Microsoft Outlook has been showing more ads in iOS and Android apps in the recent months, as per 9to5Mac.
For those unfamiliar with the Outlook, it provides users with two options for organizing their inbox. You can choose between a single inbox with everything in it or a tabbed inbox, which is split into two categories.
For the split categories, it comes with "Focused," having all the important mail, and "Other" with the rest of the mail. While in the past Microsoft only place ads in the "Other" tab for free users, it is now putting ads in the single-inbox, too, as noted by The Verge.
Microsoft Employs Aggressive Ads' Strategy in Outlook
With around 500 million users around the world, Outlook is a really popular email service from Microsoft.
This email service is free for anyone's use. Thus, it is only expected that the platform will show ads to users. However, in recent months, it appears that Microsoft has been quite aggressive in its ads' strategies for users of Outlook's iOS and Android apps.
According to The Verge, the Outlook mobile app has been placing more ads. It used to only show ads in the "Other" tab but now you'll see ads even in the "Focused" tab. The ads confusingly look like a real email.
This means that users who are using free Outlook are bombarded with ads, and they cannot avoid it unless they pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription.
According to a Microsoft spokesperson, more advertisements are indeed shown to the Outlook app free users.
While it is possible for users to swipe, ignore and hide an ad, another one will reappear after a short period of time.
Users find this aggressive ads' strategy annoying since this is intrusive advertisements. Because of this, the Microsoft Outlook app for iOS that has a 5-star rating in the App Store, has been getting very negative reviews lately.
Read Also: Leaks of Microsoft's New Email Client 'One Outlook' Look Promising
Apple is Also Investing in Digital Ads Market
According to The Verge, the ads appear at the top of an inbox and can be easily mistaken as a real email. This is quite the same how both Microsoft and Google show ads in the web versions of Outlook and Gmail.
Outlook users have been expressing their frustration on Twitter and Reddit over the increasing number of ads appearing in Outlook mobile. However, there is no other way to remove these ads other than to subscribe to Microsoft 365.
The digital ads market is attracting many companies, not only Microsoft. In a report of Bloomberg, the news site noted Apple is also exploring the possibility of placing ads in some of its apps.
In some countries, the Apple News and Apple Stocks apps are showing some ads. According to 9to5Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users may also see ads in the future in the search results for Apple Maps, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts.
In the current practice, developers are paying to promote their apps in the App Store's search results.
According to Apple, the App Store ads provide a good chance for developers to reach new consumers while keeping the company's privacy standards.
Related Article: Microsoft Launches Outlook Lite for Android: Here's What You Have to Know
