Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

support.mozilla.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 721 posts

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#421

Post by genrilz »

pronik wrote: post #372
Adrig wrote: post #34

Meh, the feature is easily deactivable, the settings are clear and extensive. As far as ads go, it's one of the best implementations. Firefox still has no alternative in the privacy / user-centric space (don't mention Brave, I'm gonna get mad). Mozilla has done a lot for the web, I can give them some slack for exploring different revenue models. Still, I'm going to keep on eye for this kind of practices in the future…

Just imagine the meltdown if Google or Microsoft built that in. Somehow, Mozilla always get the slack and a couple of months down the road they are the saviour of the privacy world yet again.

Google and Microsoft do build that in. Google Chrome's default search engine is Google, so the search suggestions come from Google. I am not sure that Google includes sponsored results in those suggestions, but at the very least they do harvest your data to advertise to you better in the future. Microsoft does the same thing by making Bing their default search engine.

Like with Firefox, you have to change your preferences if you want privacy.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#422

Post by throwaway510921 »

With the erosion of the W3C as a standard body, ongoing IP lawsuits and closed source/specs, some day the browser lockin may become real and slowly manifest all around us.

Compare that scenario to the nowaday advertising popup and thank that the market hasn't been taken over and the numb masses haven't adopted it yet.

It feels weird to write this, but somehow i am glad.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#423

Post by sieabahlpark »

morganvachon wrote: post #383
deepstack wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>(don't mention Brave, I'm gonna get mad) Just wonder the reason? Is it because it support the monopoly of google rendering engine? Or other reasons?

Not OP but I've avoided Brave from the beginning because of its reliance on an ad-fueled crypto scam to generate revenue. If you're trying to avoid Mozilla's new ad-based revenue scheme, moving to a browser that is wholly funded by tracking your browsing and showing you ads while pretending to "pay" you with cryptocurrency that they never actually pay out, seems like a step backwards.

Mozilla is woke. It's a failing company and a failing browser.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#424

Post by oAlbe »

adar wrote: post #386
nonbirithm wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having watched The Boys just an hour ago, I couldn't agree more. So much of that show is made up of language that conceals intent and how it is used to preserve one's public image and save face, and you can immediately tell when someone is actually willing to tell the truth instead of skirt around the actual issues. The incentives aren't made clear and you're left with the gaps to fill leading up to how decisions lik…

I'm not quite sure scripted dialogue in a fictional TV show about murderous superheroes is the correct comparison for Mozilla putting ads in search results...

The comment you are replying to is referencing the language used in the statement made by Mozilla.

I hope it is not coming to you as news the fact that those corporate statements are scripted, likely much more heavily than a TV show.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#425

Post by bpoyner »

Adrig wrote: post #34

Meh, the feature is easily deactivable, the settings are clear and extensive. As far as ads go, it's one of the best implementations. Firefox still has no alternative in the privacy / user-centric space (don't mention Brave, I'm gonna get mad). Mozilla has done a lot for the web, I can give them some slack for exploring different revenue models. Still, I'm going to keep on eye for this kind of practices in the future…

Is it easy to deactivate though? I checked the group policy template provided by Mozilla, I don't see how deactivate it across the organization.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#426

Post by sieabahlpark »

prawnsalad wrote: post #418
Barrin92 wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also while we're on the topic of dark patterns, the cards, the sponsored backgrounds and the crypto crap seem to be curiously enough the only settings that don't sync. on every machine you have to turn it all off manually again.

Not to mention they got caught rewriting your URLs to add their own affiliate codes, which is even worse than traditional tracking imo. https://www.zdnet.com/article/privacy-browser-brave-busted-f...

Honestly I'd rather them assault every affiliate link and ad to be their own. I'm using their browser for free, they should get paid for it.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#427

Post by chrisjc »

roca wrote: post #133
mrtesthah wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As mismanaged as Mozilla is, they are in it to make the web a decent place for users. Placing ads in the search bar and datamining everything you search for is failing at this mission.

"No new data is collected, stored, or shared to make these new recommendations." "When contextual suggestions are enabled, Mozilla receives your search queries. When you see or click on a Firefox Suggest result, Mozilla collects and sends your search queries and the result you click on to our partners through a Mozilla-owned proxy service. The data we share with partners does not include personally identifying inform…

I think I can confidently assume that despite not providing IP or accurate location data, there are enough features in the data for their partners to fingerprint individuals. Might require a lot more work, but when advertisers go out of their way to identify individuals based on their browser/os/hardware settings, they'll attempt to do it on just about anything they could get their hands on.

I wonder how containers affect this behavior? Since the same history seems to pop up regardless of which container I'm in, I wonder if this effectively makes containers permeable?

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#428

Post by matheusmoreira »

We couldn't care less about Mozilla's "partners". We certainly don't want their "suggestions". So many people were switching to Firefox due to Chrome's crippled extensions. How is it possible to be this out of touch?

How hard is it to charge money for the browser? Literally make it a paid app and I'll buy it.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#429

Post by account42 »

johnsea wrote: post #301
Hendrikto wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Financing is only an issue because they make it one. Mozilla has tons of money, but they just 1. spend too much of it, 2. on the wrong things, 3. and always want more.

Maybe if they would spend it on the right things, Google would stop paying?

I that case, Google not paying would be good for Firefox.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#430

Post by madjam002 »

I must be the only one who finds Chromium a less invasive experience than Firefox.

People harp on about how we must all switch to Firefox, but in the years I have been using Chromium I’ve not once had any marketing BS popups, nags, or issues like this.

And no, Chrome is not the new IE, it’s open source and there’s various different builds available and ways that is is distributed.

Post reply on HN