Windows 10 Now Showing Full Screen Ads On Lock Screen

[GoodBytes]

10 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Chromecast does a similar thing (shows cool pictures endlessly from a variety of sources when idle). I suppose google is just funding that through the advertising they do elsewhere on the web then?  I'm wondering because it seems very similar, yet they don't seem to show any ads on the chromecast.

Most likely. Or because their business model is focused/structured on collecting people taste, interest, location, age, etc. For Google eyes, it is a only a product that assists in this, while Microsoft sees each thing as separate.

[LAwLz]

9 hours ago, TehStranger? said:

And I'm sorry, but if someone needs a guide on how to change their wallpaper then they should fucking kill themselves.

It's not a guide on how to change wallpaper. The button for turning off the ads won't appear unless you change the background first. So you have to first change your background (from Windows spotlight), then you can turn it off. You can't just turn it off, or just change your wallpaper. You have to do both.

 

 

6 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

This is not news (Well already posted). People here have reported this before. It was also mentioned at Microsoft BUILD event last year, which was reported here. This is the disabled by default, Windows Spotlight feature. Basically, someone has to pay for the fancy photographs you have been enjoying. Microsoft license them from many photographers.

No, Windows Spotlight is enabled by default. I just checked in a fresh VM.

[AlTech]

8 hours ago, KemoKa said:

Actually, to be honest, this whole thing makes me kind of uneasy as well. @LAwLz has a good point. I mean, it's almost unanimous on this thread that people don't really care or mind at this point. That's fine, I guess. I mean, objectively speaking, these aren't terrible ads, they could easily be just random wallpapers. But if people are so comfortable with ads being injected into a product that they themselves bought with actual money, all it will do is prompt Microsoft to push a little further, to see how many ads they can push to consumers before it gets annoying. So where do we draw the line here? Is there a line? Are people just so used to being marketed to that they'll be just as apathetic to unavoidable fullscreen takeover ads that they have to watch before they log into their computer as they are with these images? From what I've seen from the F2P mobile gaming industry, I would say yes, or that at least that's where we're headed. There needs to be a line drawn by us between the consumer and Microsoft that tells them what we won't tolerate. And when I say line, I mean a massive, jagged, Grand Canyon-dwarfing chasm that has the gaping jaws of Linux at the bottom should Microsoft overstep their bounds.

But as we've seen, the non-techies of the world (and there are many) are very good at being submissive, unquestioning little sheeple. Mark my words, Microsoft will eventually be milking this ad campaign like the cash cow it is, and the hundreds of millions of blind little lambs won't have the cognitive ability or concern about it to actually do something about it.

Somebody has to pay for those Professional wallpapers. Microsoft Licensed them to really good photographers. so they need monies back.

[WolfDeville]

3 hours ago, LAwLz said:

It's not a guide on how to change wallpaper. The button for turning off the ads won't appear unless you change the background first. So you have to first change your background (from Windows spotlight), then you can turn it off. You can't just turn it off, or just change your wallpaper. You have to do both.

 

 

No, Windows Spotlight is enabled by default. I just checked in a fresh VM.

Gee, sounds difficult....

[GoodBytes]

4 hours ago, LAwLz said:

It's not a guide on how to change wallpaper. The button for turning off the ads won't appear unless you change the background first. So you have to first change your background (from Windows spotlight), then you can turn it off. You can't just turn it off, or just change your wallpaper. You have to do both.

 

 

No, Windows Spotlight is enabled by default. I just checked in a fresh VM.

What edition of Win10 you have?, And is your account local or not?

[Kiyuubi]

It doesn't matter if you can disable the ads.  The fact of the matter is that Windows literally has ads built into it.  This is fucking ridiculous.

[GoodBytes]

2 hours ago, Kiyuubi said:

It doesn't matter if you can disable the ads.  The fact of the matter is that Windows literally has ads built into it.  This is fucking ridiculous.

Well, they mentioned it before, and was covered here, and everybody was fine.

[LAwLz]

7 hours ago, TehStranger? said:

Gee, sounds difficult....

For your average user, it is. The setting is hidden. I might not even have known how to make the off switch appear if I hadn't read that article. Not sure why Microsoft didn't just have the on/off switch appear at all times.

 

6 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

What edition of Win10 you have?, And is your account local or not?

I tried with Windows 10 Pro and a local account. The default was Windows Spotlight wallpapers for the lock screen.

 

11 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Chromecast does a similar thing (shows cool pictures endlessly from a variety of sources when idle). I suppose google is just funding that through the advertising they do elsewhere on the web then?  I'm wondering because it seems very similar, yet they don't seem to show any ads on the chromecast.

Google did not pay for some (most? all?) of those photos. For example they got a bunch of photos from Romain Guy, which works at Google. They asked him if they could use photos he has on his Flickr and he said yes. I also think that they use photos from Google Photos. They probably just ask users if they can use them on the Chromecast. The photographers gets some fame and exposure, and Chromecast users gets nice images to look at. Win/win without having to fill the screen with ads every once in a while to "pay for the service".

[GoodBytes]

3 hours ago, LAwLz said:

For your average user, it is. The setting is hidden. I might not even have known how to make the off switch appear if I hadn't read that article. Not sure why Microsoft didn't just have the on/off switch appear at all times.
 

People know how to change background in Windows.

Right-click on your desktop, click on "Personalize", go to "Lock Screen", and change "Windows Spotlight" to something else.

My parents can do this, and I never showed how.

 

Quote

I tried with Windows 10 Pro and a local account. The default was Windows Spotlight wallpapers for the lock screen.

I have installed/upgraded Windows 10 on almost all computer in the office, and I can tell you, not 1 single one of them had Windows Spotlight enabled with Windows 10 Pro. So I don't believe you. Sorry.

 

Quote

Google did not pay for some (most? all?) of those photos. For example they got a bunch of photos from Romain Guy, which works at Google. They asked him if they could use photos he has on his Flickr and he said yes. I also think that they use photos from Google Photos. They probably just ask users if they can use them on the Chromecast. The photographers gets some fame and exposure, and Chromecast users gets nice images to look at. Win/win without having to fill the screen with ads every once in a while to "pay for the service".

So this guys got screwed. Google is making mass money out of him, and he gets nothing. Well, he is an idiot.

 

 

P.S: If you find TehStranger? post offense, hit the report button and another mod will take care of it LAwLz. As you know, I don't mod any thread I participate in, unless it is the request by the poster himself for basic actions like remove a duplicated post, or if it obvious spam, and such.

[LAwLz]

11 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

People know how to change background in Windows.

Right-click on your desktop, click on "Personalize", go to "Lock Screen", and change "Windows Spotlight" to something else.

My parents can do this, and I never showed how.

People might know that, but they might not know that the setting to turn of ads is hidden until you change that.

 

11 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

I have installed/upgraded Windows 10 on almost all computer in the office, and I can tell you, not 1 single one of them had Windows Spotlight enabled with Windows 10 Pro. So I don't believe you. Sorry.

I guess I could record it if you don't believe me...

 

11 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

So this guys got screwed. Google is making mass money out of him, and he gets nothing. Well, he is an idiot.

Not really. He works at Google (so he is already being paid by them, just not for the photos) and he uploads his photos to Flickr under the creative commons license as well. Maybe, just maybe, he is happy just to see people enjoy his photos? Not everyone does things just to make money.

 

Fame and recognition is a pretty decent reward by itself.

 

 

I don't mind the stranger being offensive.

[GoodBytes]

How is it hidden? It's there under Personalize

Regardless, he is an idiot. When you can make money, you make money.

 

 

[LAwLz]

9 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I guess I could record it if you don't believe me...

And it's done. Before you go "ohh but you didn't active it", please bear in mind that it won't change any settings. The only thing activation does is enable you to change things from the default settings. The settings you see in the video are the default ones.

By the way, as a little touch I swapped the audio in the video for royalty free music. You know, music people produce so that other people can listen and use it, without having to pay. You might think he is an idiot for just wanting people to enjoy the things he create, but money is not the most important thing to some people.

 

I'm in a scanlation group and don't get paid. I do quite a lot of work (from time to time, depends on the other members) for free just so that other people can enjoy it. I don't think there is anything wrong with that either (and yes, it is not uncommon that people pay 1-2 dollars per page to have things translated).

 

 

 

 

[GoodBytes]

Well its disable on my side on all system that I have, and at work.

 

All I can think about is that probably because you have Windows 10 non activated. As you noticed options are disabled. So probably it defaults to that.

 

[ybriK]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next version of Windows has ads built-in by default and you have to pay a premium membership to get rid of them.

[GoodBytes]

2 hours ago, ybriK said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the next version of Windows has ads built-in by default and you have to pay a premium membership to get rid of them.

In other words, Windows Home is free, but has ads. And if you want to rid of them (or you are a company), pay 50$ per year or something and get the Pro without ads? That is possible. Microsoft has a lot of pressure to make Windows for free.

 

But here, the ads pays for the fancy wallpaper. They go away, you have another set of wallpapers, and then another ad will show.

[LAwLz]

3 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Well its disable on my side on all system that I have, and at work.

 

All I can think about is that probably because you have Windows 10 non activated. As you noticed options are disabled. So probably it defaults to that.

Nope, it is not because my copy is not activated, as it did the same thing on my laptop (which is activated). Options are disabled since it is not activated. The options are disabled so that I can't change from the default ones. The only thing that changes when I activate Windows is that they are no longer grayed out. Things don't get changed from on to off just because I activate it.

I have three different explanations for it.

1) Microsoft changed the default settings in their new releases. I downloaded that ISO just a few days ago, but your copy might be older.

2) You only used Enterprise versions, which might not have it on by default.

3) You are lying or simply forgot that you changed it.

 

Personally I am leaning towards the first option, because I don't remember changing it on my desktop and it is disabled on that.

I tried to look up the hash for the ISO I used to install it on (downloaded it though the upgrade tool) but apparently each ISO is unique (probably for data collection purposes), so you can't compare the hash against anything.

[GoodBytes]

8 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

1) Microsoft changed the default settings in their new releases. I downloaded that ISO just a few days ago, but your copy might be older.

Now, THAT is very much possible, as Microsoft does update the ISO.

So then, that is indeed sucky on Microsoft part. Starting to remind me with XBox and the shitty ads on it.

 

My apologies LAwLz, and everyone for the incorrect information I have provided.

And thanks LAwLz for the correction and effort.