Opera Browser New Purple Icon on Speed Dial Page

I fired up Opera Version 124.0.5705.65 and noticed this Purple Icon at the Top of the Speed Dial (Start Page) please see Image 1.
I ran a full Defender Scan and it detected nothing.
I thn clicked the icon and this Message Ad popped up as per Image 2.
I clicked on the X and it gave me the option to close the Window .
I restarted Opera and it appeared again.
I posted in the Opera Forums and the reply does not like the icon either.
I have reverted back to the previous version of Opera for the time beig.
Does anyone know the purpose of this Icon - Ad and can it be turned off, deleted etc
Thanks EB2SXR6

That is Opera's Speed Dial, an advertisement placeholder introduced in Opera version 124.0.5705.65. It’s not malware, but part of Opera’s built-in promotional content. Clicking it opens an ad or sponsored content.

• Manual removal: You can try right-clicking the tile and selecting Remove or Delete if available.
• 
  
• Settings workaround:
  
  • Go to opera://settings/startPage
  • Disable options like Show promotional content or Receive news and offers from Opera
• Rollback option: Some users reverted to an earlier Opera version to avoid the ad from Opera

glasskuter said:

Thanks yThat is Opera's Speed Dial, an advertisement placeholder introduced in Opera version 124.0.5705.65. It’s not malware, but part of Opera’s built-in promotional content. Clicking it opens an ad or sponsored content.

• Manual removal: You can try right-clicking the tile and selecting Remove or Delete if available.
• 
  
• Settings workaround:
  • Go to opera://settings/startPage
  • Disable options like Show promotional content or Receive news and offers from Opera
• Rollback option: Some users reverted to an earlier Opera version to avoid the ad from Opera

Click to expand...

Thank you Glasskuter, I rolled back. I see Brave is now serving ads as well.

I reinstalled the lastest version and tried to disable the ad widget right click etc and could see nothing in the settings to disable it.
So rolled back again to the previous version.

I lodged a bug report with Opera.
The explanation was the Icon was to deliver a Holiday Message and once closed it should have gone away.
Opera are looking into why it did not go away.
Regards
EB2XR6