Last year, during Build 2022 Microsoft announced Microsoft Store Ads which would feature major changes to the marketplace with the aim of allowing developers to tap into a wider audience and establish connectivity with their target audience.
Later, after Microsoft began rolling out the Windows 11 2022 Update, the company launched the Microsoft Store Ads Pilot program and started onboarding developers allowing them to create ad campaigns in the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft has now announced that it has released Microsoft Store Ads to general availability. The newly revamped Microsoft Store on Windows features a new desktop app distribution experience that mimics the one on mobile devices.
With these new changes in full effect, users now have the added capability to download apps from the Microsoft Store using their Windows PC or mobile device. It also adds new discoverability opportunities in Windows, app restoration, Pop-up Store experiences, Microsoft Store Ads, as well as new tools for PWA and Win32 developers.
According to Microsoft:
With Microsoft Store Ads, developers now have new app discoverability opportunities on Windows. Microsoft Store Ads is all desktop traffic, with mission-driven users that have a high intent to download a desktop app. The opportunity is vast; 2022 was a record year, with over 900 million unique users worldwide utilizing the Microsoft Store, and a 122% year-over-year increase in developer submissions of new apps and games.
This release will help developers reach their target audience easily since it places their apps and games “in from of the right customers at the right time”. “Whether you’re about to launch a brand-new app or have a 2.0 bug update for an app currently on the Windows Store, developers can now advertise right on the Microsoft Store, to incentivize people to install or update,” says Microsoft.
To leverage all these new capabilities and benefits, developers must first add their programs to the Microsoft Store. This way it is easy to promote new apps or already existing ones. What’s more, Microsoft has indicated that developers will get competitive costs per click rates.
