Windows 11 introduced start menu ads recently in update KB5036980, thankfully they can disabled, but I’m not 100% sure it will stay that way
relevant article from The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24138949/microsoft-windows-11-start-menu-ads-recommendations-setting-disable
That’s a smart solution, I’ll have to look into trying it on my work PC (where they force me to use windows 11), thank you for the recommend!