This is the kind of decisions that can kill a Project no matter how big it is.
What else can they do?
Ask for donations, same as wikipedia?
Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
51–60 of 60 posts
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#52Honestly, if Mozilla wants to continue surviving, and wants to break their scary dependence on Google, I don't know what non-advertising alternatives they can explore. (maybe a Wikipedia-style pledge drive on the new tab page? Of course, I bet people would be far more annoyed by that)
They could default to Bing in the search bar. Lots of people would switch back to Google, so Mozilla wouldn't make as much money, but it wouldn't be a drop to zero. Unless Mozilla doesn't want to deal with the company that aimed to destroy Netscape in the first place...
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is the right direction for an organization like Mozilla that needs to keep its lights on and pay a sizeable host of highly skilled developers?
Well, what are they doing now? Obviously it's been successful in keeping them open. Is there evidence they are actually in financial trouble and need this help?
What they're doing now is taking money from a large multinational advertising corporation that is also a direct competitor in the browser business. So Mozilla is already ad-supported, just at one level of indirection, with less control over how the ads are able to invade your privacy, and subject to the whims of a hostile party.
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#54What is they say? If you're not the [paying] customer, you're the product? :)
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
This reminds me very strongly of the Opera web browser...
Safari also has a similar pre-filled splash screen, last time I checked. I wonder if IE still defaults to showing msn.com?
Most other browsers do this and collect some revenue from it. Either showing just in-house ads (G/M) or sponsored ads from partners (O).
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#56But presumably not in Iceweasel.
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#57Firefox will NOT include ads - Stop the misinformation!! currently the default new tab page on a NEW installation is mostly empty: http://i.imgur.com/z71I89i.jpg What will happen is that it will be pre-filled with sites that are popular in your locale, organizations that Mozilla likes, and sponsored sites: http://cl.ly/image/3I172o2f202k The pre-filled sites disappear and are replaced by your own top sites as you sta…
How about for someone who keeps a perpetually clean history? I really hope I won't need to disable the new tab page just because a bunch of sites I'm not interested in keep appearing every time I clear my browsing history.
I can of course pin sites so that they stay after clearing history, but what if I don't have 9 pinned? Will a handful of sites I don't care about constantly appear?
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#58Firefox will NOT include ads - Stop the misinformation!! currently the default new tab page on a NEW installation is mostly empty: http://i.imgur.com/z71I89i.jpg What will happen is that it will be pre-filled with sites that are popular in your locale, organizations that Mozilla likes, and sponsored sites: http://cl.ly/image/3I172o2f202k The pre-filled sites disappear and are replaced by your own top sites as you sta…
The problem is that the news was delivered via tweet and blog by Darren Herman - a marketing/ad guy. He's a VP responsible for diversifying revenue. The source and messaging indicate more "user-enhancing" programs are also on the way.
If Mozilla did not intend for this to be ad related, they picked a horrible way to deliver the message IMO.
Mozilla would also be fully aware that there would be concerns about this "ad-like" product but did not nip it in the bud with any clarifications - yet.
The community is concerned for a very valid reason.
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
By that token, the pre-installed search sites are ads. There's big money associated with those things, yet I haven't heard anyone complaining about them. I like the look of this new feature—I think it will be more useful to beginning users, it produces a nicer first-run user experience, and it gets out of the way very quickly. I'm not sure if people think that Google Chrome has ads like this or not—to my view, the wh…
I'm not implying I have a problem with Mozilla including these ads. If it helps them out in the end to keep the browser field competitive, I'm all for it. I also won't argue your point about calling the pre-installed search engines as ads--but they have a utility to them. The upcoming ads are going to have a hit or miss utility. Either I frequent that sponsored site, or I don't and find it to be a waste of space on m…
I think it is a really clever way to do advertising because it allows large companies to give them a bunch of money and at least get something for it that they can show investors while not annoying users much at all. This is most likely aimed at companies like Facebook and Google and Yahoo that have no real need for advertising as such but are willing to spend money to make their services seem even more identical to the intenet itself (for less tech savy users). The company would most likely already recognize that Firefox is important for people being able to actually use their services but the extra bonus of a link to their company could help convince anyone who is doubtful that they should spend money on open source browsers (and gives them an extra spot in the budget they could put such a contribution). Overall a good move on Mozilla's part IMO.
Re: Mozilla to deliver ads in its Firefox browser
#60How about just asking me if I want to become a paying customer? Please accept my money on the conditions that you keep the web open and provide an ad-free service
In particular, it'd be easy to add a 'firefox supporter' edition in the android play market, perhaps a slightly different icon, and you pay $3 for it. I'd be fine with that.