Windows users irked by sneaky Harry Potter ads that keep appearing on their PC desktops
"Harry Potter and the Last of My Patience."
Bing wallpaper advertising Harry Potter movie collection. Image from Windows Latest
- Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper app showed Harry Potter ads instead of daily background photos to some Windows users.
- The ads varied by region, so not everyone using Windows 10 or 11 saw them.
- Users said Microsoft’s app notice mentions promotional offers but does not clearly warn about desktop ad banners.
- Reddit users criticized the promotion and questioned advertising a franchise that is already widely known.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Windows users are venting at Microsoft for pushing Harry Potter ads onto their desktops via the Bing app.
If you’re using Windows 10 or Windows 11, one of the ways you can customize your PC background is by downloading the Bing Wallpaper application.
It’s a free app from Microsoft that automatically changes your device background with new photos every day.
However, some app users weren’t so thrilled to see a wallpaper that's actually an ad for the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts movie collection.
The ad appeared only to some users because the app's images vary by region.
Nevertheless, those who saw the ad plastered on their desktops were confused, since Microsoft hasn’t used the app to advertise anything so openly.
On Microsoft’s Bing Wallpaper website, the company notes that after installing the app, users “will also receive in-app notifications with promotional offers from Microsoft,” Windows Latest reported.
However, such a message doesn’t clearly indicate that users might get an ad banner instead of a wallpaper.
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An ad you can’t ignore
“Up until this point, it was a fairly harmless program that gave a variety of animals, environments, or pattern backgrounds that rotate daily,” shared one Redditor about using the Bing Wallpaper app.
“I immediately uninstall Bing/Edge/any other Microsoft bloatware for reasons like this,” wrote another user.
“Harry Potter & The Last of My Patience,” joked one netizen.
“You will consume Harry Potter video media, and you will like it, valued future customer,” added another Redditor.
Got up today to see that Bing wallpaper had changed my desktop background to a harry potter Advertisement
by u/grammmaphone in mildlyinfuriating
“Free software from a trillion-dollar company means you are the product,” noted another netizen, hinting that the wallpaper app didn’t actually provide users with content for free.
Some users were confused by the need to advertise something like the Harry Potter franchise, which is already widely recognized.
“This is so pathetic. They can feature a great photographer but they choose a billion-dollar franchise. Harry Potter doesn’t need an ad. They are more well-known than BING. They just pissed off their core audience by selling out,” wrote the Redditor.
