Windows 11 users may have seen an ad for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 recently. Another notification appeared for many PC users, but instead of advertising the latest Call of Duty game, the prompt promoted Microsoft Defender and Microsoft 365, though the latter was advertised indirectly. The notifications drew criticism and caused a round of articles calling out Microsoft's aggressive advertising on Windows 11. Windows Latest was the first to spot the ads. That outlet also received confirmation from Microsoft about the ads, though the tech giant referred to them as "notifications."
Unless you have a certain type of ad disabled, Microsoft may show a notification within Windows 11 that includes a "Buy Now" button for Black Ops 6: Vault Edition. A similar ad promotes Microsoft Defender as well. While Microsoft Defender, the antivirus tool, is free on Windows 11, using the Microsoft Defender app requires a paid Microsoft 365 subscription.
