Live data from Hacker News

Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

support.mozilla.org

541–550 of 721 posts

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for "iff" (if and only if), which I wish were more broadly used and recognized in written English

Except it's not used correctly here. "A iff B" means "A implies B and B implies A". "I'd be willing to entertain, or even support, this way of them making money iff they spelled out honestly what they're doing and why" implies both of these: - "If they spelled out honestly what they're doing and why, I'd be willing to entertain [...]" - "If I'd be willing to entertain [..] then they will honestly spell what they're d…

I agree with all the other responses here that it is used correctly. First off, they are using it informally, and it's perfectly clear what they are trying to say, so even if it was formally wrong, exercises like these would still be tedious and beside the point.

But even playing the game of treating informal language by the rules of strict logical formalisms, it still makes sense. The two elements implying one another would be (1) trusting mozilla and entertaining this new program, and (2) mozilla communicating clearly about their ads. You trust them if they communicate honestly, and communicating honestly garners trust. Makes sense to me.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#542
post #11
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.

Then you won't enable it. What is there to dislike?

An American friend checked his browser and it was on without any notification or user interaction.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#543

Can someone please just offer an open source browser that I can pay towards somehow? IMO adtech is the root of all that’s wrong with the modern internet. It gives companies 2 masters: advertisers and users. Guess who’s prioritized when there’s a conflict between the needs of the two? Whoever’s paying the bills, of course.

There's qutebrowser and you can donate directly to the developer but I'm not sure if you'd be comfortable using it. The major downside is that web extensions (addons) don't work in qutebrowser.

Fun fact, I've been asked by a VPN company if I'd ship their (somewhat proprietary) VPN stuff with qutebrowser.

The guy who contacted me didn't understand "if you won't offer a SOCKS or HTTP proxy, even if I wanted to, it's not possible".

Naturally I would be anything but comfortable with such a "partnership" (the only thing I'm exploring is getting money from search engines for qutebrowser users' searches).

Nevermind that it'd also be a bad idea from a monitary perspective, given that I'd probably lose more in donations that I'd gain from such a thing.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#544
No problem for me. I'll just slam whichever domain they use to provide the ads in my PiHole configuration, and I'll use the SurfingKeys (JS-customizable) search bar to get results.

I already give monthly contributions to the Mozilla Foundation. Do they need more money? Fine, I can increase my donation. But the whole point of donating money is to avoid ads harassment. If I don't have that right anymore, then I'll either stop donating to Mozilla, or use all my power user skills to ensure that not a single ad shows in my search bar.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#545
So just disable it. I'm sick and tired of people smearing Firefox because they're trying to make a living. It's still the best open source browser out there, it's still free, as in freedom and as in beer.

Any fork of Firefox is mainly a change in default settings or branding. None of them would exist without the huge contributions Mozilla Foundation receive. People who criticize Firefox and then use one of its many forks, I'd like to tell them to just stop whining and appreciate what they have.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#546
post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Why are we shocked about marketing?

Disappointment isn't shock. And criticism doesn't imply either.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#547
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…

>easily deactivable

Each time I install Firefox, I end up wasting a non-trivial amount of time carefully working my way through the settings in order to disable the pile of defaults that are as 'easy' to deactivate as they are infuriating. When updating the browser, some of these changes get rolled back, and some of them become more difficult to adjust, either by being removed from the options menu, or by being obscured in about:config - maybe the name has changed for no reason, or maybe the behaviour now depends on an entirely different configuration value.

A particularly obscene case is the auto-updater, which has gotten so bad that I have literally given up on figuring out how to disable it. (At least on Windows; firefox-esr on debian is, so far, free of this insanity) (Ever noticed how forced automatic updates in software get pushed by security fanaticism, but mostly exist to steal your data and ruin your day while they're at it?)

You, apparently, see an easily-deactivable feature in a clear and extensive settings menu. I see an ever-growing eldritch labyrinth, built solely to prevent me from having a straightforward internet browsing experience, all the while the browser's performance is slowly but surely - and noticeably - worsening in the new versions.

Anyway, screw you, Mozilla. At this point I'm only using firefox because I don't see much of a choice either.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for "iff" (if and only if), which I wish were more broadly used and recognized in written English

Except it's not used correctly here. "A iff B" means "A implies B and B implies A". "I'd be willing to entertain, or even support, this way of them making money iff they spelled out honestly what they're doing and why" implies both of these: - "If they spelled out honestly what they're doing and why, I'd be willing to entertain [...]" - "If I'd be willing to entertain [..] then they will honestly spell what they're d…

the fact that my first instinct was to mock you with "ummm ahhhctuallly" is telling that maybe your comment wasn't really needed.

We understand the intent and thought behind the use of iff in the original comment, regardless of what it may be interpreted to mean outside of a _very informal_ setting.

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#549
post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They need money to improve FF so they will get it by fucking up FF? Sounds counterproductive to me.

To be fair, this issue is also reflected with the mobile upgrade that wiped most of the functionality, extension integration, and good will. Whomever they have hired to (1) perform UX research and (2) make executive decisions aren't performing, IMHO.

I did not use the mobile version until after they redid the design.

I dont really have a lot of complaints about it. I like the dark mode and the address bar at the bottom it has ad blocker.

What all changed between those versions ?

Re: Mozilla to put ads in Firefox address bar suggestions

#550
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.

Gods do I miss the days when I could be a Firefox fanboy. I even miss version 1.5 when the Close Tab button was in the same place for any active tab so you could muscle-memory click it without even looking at the tab bar.
Post reply on HN