Mozilla Announces Plans to Play Ads in Firefox Browser
Mozilla today announced plans to put ads inside its Firefox browser. If you're already a Firefox user, you likely won't see any at all.
Mozilla this week announced that it will launch a program called 'Directory Tiles' that will fill those tiles on a new tab with sponsored content. Don't worry, though. If you're a frequent Tom's Hardware visitor, this doesn't mean your Tom's tile is going to be pushed out of the way in favor of an ad. Instead, this program will only affect new users.
"[New users'] tiles – those nine rectangles that populate over time with the most frequent and recent websites they visit – are empty. The new tab page isn't delivering any value for them," Mozilla's Darren Herman explained. "Directory Tiles will instead suggest pre-packaged content for first-time users. Some of these tile placements will be from the Mozilla ecosystem, some will be popular websites in a given geographic location, and some will be sponsored content from hand-picked partners to help support Mozilla's pursuit of our mission. The sponsored tiles will be clearly labeled as such, while still leading to content we think users will enjoy."
Mozilla says Directory Tiles carries 'inherent value' for users and helps Mozilla become more diversified and sustainable. That said, it's possible some users will see this as black and white as a once ad-free product displaying ads. After all, it's hard not to play the 'what if' game when a company makes a move like this. What if targeting new users is no longer enough? What if, down the road, Mozilla decides to reduce the number of user-generated tiles to six and save the last row for ads?
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I don't even know how often I even see the new tab page. I hardly ever open one then navigate to a site. If I want to see something in a new tab I right click and open in a new tab. For searches I have configured the search bar in about:config to create a new tab when searching automatically. That way I can research something I am reading about more efficiently.
With about:config you'll be able to disable it anyways. I'm sure some add-on will also block it.
I don't even know how often I even see the new tab page. I hardly ever open one then navigate to a site. If I want to see something in a new tab I right click and open in a new tab. For searches I have configured the search bar in about:config to create a new tab when searching automatically. That way I can research something I am reading about more efficiently.
With about:config you'll be able to disable it anyways. I'm sure some add-on will also block it.
These things might no pertain to us(hardware/pc enthusiast, or tech savy people in general) exactly, but you have to remember that people that know how to setup their browser like that are in the minority of the browser user population.
Unless you get an add on to display something else, or maybe move to a firefox fork because that's what you can do on open source stuff. Just like ad block plus got a fork or two after it started allowing some ads and used that to extort sites to pass through the filters.
Sure this is a lot less draconic tthen that but there are already a few firefox forks which may not adopt this stuff at all.