Microsoft is showing banner advertisements in the PDF viewer in the Microsoft 365 (Office) mobile app. The ads have only been reported on Android devices, but they are even appearing for some paying Microsoft 365 subscribers.
When you open a PDF using the company’s Android PDF viewer, you may well see something like the below banner ad. Some people have also reported seeing ads on documents other than PDFs, forcing them to use alternative apps for a distraction-free experience. We were able to verify this on an Android device, where Microsoft served an ad for a cryptocurrency exchange.
If it’s the first time you’re opening a PDF since installing the Office or Microsoft 365 app, you’ll be prompted to select it as the default PDF viewer. That could push more people to use the Microsoft 365 app, which in this case, would also lead to more ad impressions (and thus, money) for Microsoft.
So far, we’ve only seen this happen on Microsoft’s Android apps. Indeed, people opening PDFs through Microsoft’s apps on iOS don’t appear to have the same issue. However, given the company’s recent behavior, we wouldn’t be surprised to see ads become more prominent across the board in the near future. On Android devices, you can just use the PDF viewer built into the Google Drive app for a simple PDF experience.
This is just one of a long list of Microsoft’s recent attempts to squeeze every last dollar out of its customers—and people are increasingly frustrated at the company’s apparent disregard for consumers’ wish for a clean, secure interface. In March this year, the company faced backlash when it temporarily added a QR code advertising Copilot to the Windows lock screens. Even though Microsoft defended this intrusion, saying it was “a simple way to educate users,” it quickly paused the ad after angry customers rallied to complain.
A couple of months later, it emerged that Windows 11 displayed ads in the Start menu—disguised under the term “recommendations”—prioritizing monetary promotions over user experience. Although it’s possible to disable these ads, it’s an annoying and tedious process that people complain they shouldn’t have to endure. Last month, Microsoft announced price increases for 365 subscribers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand in exchange for the automatic inclusion of a watered-down version of Copilot in the Microsoft 365 plan.
Via: Longhorn (Mastodon)
