4 ms·

Firefox to show (more) ads on the new page tab

2 points by aflukasz 2y ago

aflukasz 2y ago
Apparently, I just got hit by those all of a sudden. Sponsored tiles just next to the tiles with my frequently viewed sites, looking just as them, just with "sponsored" tag. That was surprising to me, because I've never saw those before, and I'm using FF for years now. I've got Adidas, Groupon and AliExpress. Yes, I could dismiss them, each needed separate two-click interaction with the interface. So... looks like some new user experience for Firefox users?
- talldayo 2y ago
  The advertisement must be part of an internal effort to make Firefox look more native on OSes like MacOS and Windows =) Looks like I chose the right year to keep using Chromium, I guess. Though I am pretty certain the Firefox forks will start to crop up without any ads in them.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    Firefox started putting crap into the new tab page years ago, but there is a configuration option to make the new tab page blank. Are they removing that?
    - aflukasz 2y ago
      Well, in another comment, markx2 suggested how to change new tab UI to blank page. Which I can confirm is still present and kind of works, but... that way you are removing all the tiles, including your actually frequently used pages, so I wouldn't exactly call it "removal of sponsored tiles".
      - JohnFen 2y ago
        Well, true. If you find those tiles useful then that would be a loss. How much of one, though? Are they worth putting up with ads for?
markx2 2y ago
Non-story Article dated July 16, 2024 In the latest Firefox (and it has been this way forever) Settings > Home > New tabs > Blank Page.
- aflukasz 2y ago
  Dated July 16, but without submissions here, in any form, I believe. I must say that I'm using FF for years now, and only saw such ads today for the first time ever. I wonder why. Anyway, this skewed my perception and I've submitted this as "Firefox to show ads on the new page tab". But now I see that this is more like "more ads", and this article and linked PR announcement is about adding new deals made by Mozilla for this specific ads distribution channel, but said channel itself, to my surprise, is not new. I will fix the title accordingly. Thanks for the settings tip.
JohnFen 2y ago
> now Mozilla is trying to find a way to keep ads alive but also maintain your privacy. No, Mozilla is trying to find a way to use personal information about you to target and track advertising while not being too upsetting to users. Just keeping ads in a privacy-preserving way is easy. It's the targeting and performance-measuring they want, and that's a very hard nut to crack.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

2 points by aflukasz 2y ago

Apparently, I just got hit by those all of a sudden. Sponsored tiles just next to the tiles with my frequently viewed sites, looking just as them, just with "sponsored" tag. That was surprising to me, because I've never saw those before, and I'm using FF for years now. I've got Adidas, Groupon and AliExpress. Yes, I could dismiss them, each needed separate two-click interaction with the interface. So... looks like some new user experience for Firefox users?

talldayo 2y ago
The advertisement must be part of an internal effort to make Firefox look more native on OSes like MacOS and Windows =) Looks like I chose the right year to keep using Chromium, I guess. Though I am pretty certain the Firefox forks will start to crop up without any ads in them.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Firefox started putting crap into the new tab page years ago, but there is a configuration option to make the new tab page blank. Are they removing that?
  - aflukasz 2y ago
    Well, in another comment, markx2 suggested how to change new tab UI to blank page. Which I can confirm is still present and kind of works, but... that way you are removing all the tiles, including your actually frequently used pages, so I wouldn't exactly call it "removal of sponsored tiles".
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      Well, true. If you find those tiles useful then that would be a loss. How much of one, though? Are they worth putting up with ads for?

markx2 2y ago

Non-story Article dated July 16, 2024 In the latest Firefox (and it has been this way forever) Settings > Home > New tabs > Blank Page.

aflukasz 2y ago
Dated July 16, but without submissions here, in any form, I believe. I must say that I'm using FF for years now, and only saw such ads today for the first time ever. I wonder why. Anyway, this skewed my perception and I've submitted this as "Firefox to show ads on the new page tab". But now I see that this is more like "more ads", and this article and linked PR announcement is about adding new deals made by Mozilla for this specific ads distribution channel, but said channel itself, to my surprise, is not new. I will fix the title accordingly. Thanks for the settings tip.

JohnFen 2y ago

> now Mozilla is trying to find a way to keep ads alive but also maintain your privacy. No, Mozilla is trying to find a way to use personal information about you to target and track advertising while not being too upsetting to users. Just keeping ads in a privacy-preserving way is easy. It's the targeting and performance-measuring they want, and that's a very hard nut to crack.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]