If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck...

I think you're picking the wrong fight here. There is nothing inherently wrong with advertising, if it's done with due respect for those who will see the ads and, in this case, who are using the software. It sounds like that will be the case here, just as it was when they made Google the default search engine.

But by claiming this isn't an advertising scheme, all you're doing is putting yourself the wrong side of an argument you can't possibly win. It obviously is an advertising scheme, and you immediately lose all credibility by pretending otherwise.