Microsoft Trialling Full-Screen “Hero Ads” In Windows 8.1 Modern UI Web Search

Microsoft is trialling a new concept called “Hero Ads” for its Windows 8.1 advertising arsenal. The Hero Ads are essentially close to full screen advertisements that are delivered in the modern UI’s web search function. These adverts are designed to be related to your web search and they encourage interaction with the advertised product. As you can see from Microsoft’s example above the Hero Ad allows you to request a quote, schedule a test drive, locate a retailer or build & price a Land Rover all from the Windows 8.1 web search page.

Microsoft says the new advertising method is currently only being trialled in the USA with a number of their key brand partners like Land Rover, Jaguar, Home Depot, Norwegian Cruise Line, Radio Shack, Hertz, Volkswagen and others. Microsoft wants to stress that it will listen to general feedback on the issue before making any decisions:

“We will continue to solicit feedback from both users and marketers during this pilot and will use those learnings to create an experience that works best for advertisers and Windows 8.1 users.”

My opinion is that what Microsoft is doing is totally unacceptable and over-stepping the mark of “acceptable advertising”. If Windows 8.1 was a free operating system, like Android or Ubuntu, I could perhaps accept that this kind of advertising is required for profitability. However, considering Microsoft charges a hefty premium to buy and use Windows 8.1 I certainly wouldn’t want to then have to face in operating system adverts for something I have paid for.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s Hero Ads?

Image courtesy of Microsoft