According to Windows Central, some users have recently reported that when using the free version of Microsoft Outlook, they have received push advertisements for game account transactions such as "low-price Dota 2 finished product accounts". Such advertisements that blatantly sell game accounts violate the terms of service of multiple games and conflict with platform rules, calling Microsoft Outlook's advertising review mechanism into question.
It is understood that after users click on relevant advertising links, they will jump to a game account trading website, which involves the trading of accounts for many popular games such as "Fortnite", "Call of Duty", "Roblox" and "GTA". Some accounts are even priced as high as 1,000 US dollars. It is worth noting that these advertisements that appear in Outlook mailboxes are placed through Microsoft's own advertising network and are allowed to be displayed, and the resale of game accounts has long been expressly prohibited by the "Terms of Service" of the relevant games.
The gaming platform has clear regulations on this. The Steam User Agreement issued by Valve clearly states that users are not allowed to sell, transfer, or provide account usage rights to others for a fee in any form without explicit permission. Account transactions are illegal, and if found, the account may be banned. This provision also applies to Microsoft's IP "Call of Duty", and Microsoft's own terms of service also explicitly prohibit account resale, which means that the game account trading advertisements placed by Microsoft's advertising network are in obvious conflict with the rules of the platform itself and related games.
Regarding the source and review of advertisements in Outlook, Microsoft has explained on its "About ads in Outlook" support page that advertisements in the free version of Outlook are placed by advertising networks such as Microsoft Audience Network and Meta Audience Network. Advertisers purchase advertising space through relevant systems, and the advertising content is generally approved for display after automated systems or manual review. However, the emergence of illegal game account trading advertisements has raised questions about the rigor of its review.
Industry media Windows Central pointed out that Microsoft's placement of such advertisements through its own advertising network is actually a disguised "endorsement" of this questionable business practice. For ordinary users, it is easy to mistakenly believe that the transaction behavior of the relevant account is legal and compliant because the advertisement is pushed by Microsoft's official platform. If the user participates in the transaction, not only may the game account be permanently banned, but also other potential rights and interests may be harmed.