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

471–480 of 721 posts

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#471

Post by nolok »

vetinari wrote: post #326
Thev00d00 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have "Jamendo Selections" nowadays, but that service offers independent music under creative commons licences, you can also right click and remove it.

> you can also right click and remove it. Are you sure? For me, I can only "Disable" it, and it gets promptly re-enabled right after clicking on some other item in the sidebar. There doesn't seem to be any way to disable it permanently, or, preferably, removing it entirely.

This list is filled with a LUA script in a VLC dir, and you can override it with a user list. IT's not available through GUI but if it bothers you it's possible to remove it entirely that way.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#472

Post by IanSanders »

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 did much worse and got away with it

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#473

Post by jrochkind1 »

samizdis wrote: post #128
eCa wrote: post #4

As someone who has used Firefox since v0.* I really, really, really dislike the language they have used lately. > relevant suggestions from our trusted partners The suggestions are not relevant to, and the partners not trusted by, me.

> I really, really, really dislike the language they have used lately. That is exactly the problem I have with it - weasel words and euphemisms; FF is scoring an own-goal here and eroding trust. Why not just tell it like it is. "We need funding and are lining up deals with third parties to display their ads/messaging in the address bar search. We vet these third parties by holding them contractually to these standard…

At first I had an immediate negative reaction to this.

But then I thought, okay, they need money, ads in address bar isn't the worst thing in the world.

But then then I thought: But only if they are clearly disclosed as ads! Instead we seem to have a combination of " traditional suggestions like browsing history and open tabs, as well as new suggestions from our partners" -- are the "paid placements" clearly designated as such? Unclear? Probably not?

In "traditional" media, the first rule of advertisements is that they be clearly identified as advertisements, as content put there by someone paying for it, instead of by editorial judgement. Because how can you trust the editorial judgement of the publisher if you can't tell which is which?

That even Mozilla no longer thinks this is necessary shows how much the culture has changed, where "paid placement" is pretty much assumed everywhere (or if not, you're a naive fool) and nobody trusts anybody.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#474

Post by 0des »

worble wrote: post #86
vitro wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, same with Thunderbird. I'd like to donate directly to the development of those, but it is not possible, AFAIK.

You can donate directly to Thunderbird https://give.thunderbird.net/ From the FAQ: >How will my gift be used? >Thunderbird is the leading open source cross-platform email and calendaring client, free for business and personal use. Your gift will help ensure it stays that way, and will support future development.

That doesn't sound specific enough to inspire confidence. Is there perhaps another passage that you can share which is more declarative and direct that the funds are only going to Thunderbird development? I like TB but every time I fire it up I'm getting this ticking-clock feeling

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#475

Post by rndgermandude »

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 did built that a long time ago. Google Chrome will happily open a Google Search results page for anything you type into the address bar or pick from the suggestions displayed within. And that Google Search results page is full of "sponsored" content. When it comes to Microsoft, it's just the same thing except they call it Bing.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#476

Post by rglullis »

soundnote wrote: post #453
teddyh wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any system which involves money and is not immediately obviously simple to understand is almost always created in order to steal people’s money.

The Brave system is pretty simple, though? They sell ad space, people buy ad space. Brave shows you ads and keeps a cut, they give their users a cut. Brave has a tipping service which lets users tip sites they like. End result is advertisers can advertise, and people making content get some of the ad money, the setup's just built to not track people. The big concern there is that ads that don't track are generally le…

It's incredible. I think Brave/BAT is pretty much the only project in the crypto space that has a straightforward answer to "how do you guys plan to make money?" question, yet it is called "outright corrupt" and implied they are stealing from users somehow. I really wonder why there is so much cognitive dissonance.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#477

Post by pronik »

IanSanders wrote: post #472
pronik wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 did much worse and got away with it

Microsoft maybe, they seem to be the tech bubble darling right now. Google is officially "The Evil(tm)" right now.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#480

Post by Tom4hawk »

nvr219 wrote: post #448
gerbilly wrote: post #445

For me, the most germane question becomes: 1. Can it be blocked without recompiling Firefox? 2. If so, how?

1. yes 2. in about:config

List of things I have to do on new Firefox install is getting ridiculous. It's probably time to look into forks or one of the WebKit browsers...
Post reply on HN