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In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

wired.co.uk

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Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#71

Post by nightfly »

newscracker wrote: post #45
stiray wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have developed another strategy. If the site doesnt work in firefox I will just leave. Most of the content is available elsewhere and it is internet way of "voting with my wallet".

That's what I do too. I believe that the more the people who don't tolerate this nonsense (and tell others to do likewise when possible), the quicker we can achieve positive change for everyone. And by "positive change" I mean challengers to Chrome and Google's attitude of bulldozing things (including invading privacy).

That doesn't convey to site owners /why/ you left. You need to tell them. From their perspective they'll just see an even lower percentage of Firefox users and maybe make even less effort to support it.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#72

Post by Fnoord »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #66
Fnoord wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree ads are beneficial for users (or "consumers" as you put it). They could be, but you pay with your focus/time. I'd rather pay for the content then, or get a free (demo) version (I regard a RSS feed as such). Tracking, however, is on the long term never beneficial for the users. It is a behemoth of a privacy nightmare. This article is about ad trackers .

All widespread forms of online payment require proof of identity and hence take away all anonymity and all privacy. Even after many years of debates and experiments, there is still no practical way to do anonymous micropayments. And I doubt there ever will be, because governments will always want to regulate payments. So direct payment for content will very likely end up being yet another stronghold of all-powerful g…

Good point. Not at all a fan of cryptocurrencies but would a cryptocurrency like Montero be of help here?

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#73

Post by icebraining »

aussieguy1234 wrote: post #20
jdnenej wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I saw the Firefox blocker had a domain block list for removing the ad scripts. It's not as effective as other tracker blockers which heuristics but it's less likely to break the page for users.

if domain blocking because widespread, I wouldn't be surprised if tracking vendors ask their users to self host their scripts

Self-hosted scripts are less useful for tracking, since a cookie generated on a visit to site A won't be visible when the user visits site B. So if vendors switch to that, it's good news.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#74

Post by iforgotpassword »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #16
robin_reala wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends what you’re doing. Firefox’s dev tools are definitely better at CSS debugging for example.

Indeed. I always wondered why folks praise Chrome devtools which are pretty meh at CSS.

As a non-webdev to me they look pretty much identical. I only ever need them for a one off static site or some jQuery, or when trying to figure out why some page looks broken.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#75

Post by dvdkon »

BigJono wrote: post #56
a_imho wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's something a person would say with a salary depending on ads. Who likes tracking and popups? TV programming butchered? Endless garbage in the mail? Come on.

I think it's the opposite. We're in a bubble here. It's easy enough for a software engineer to say they'd pay for the content that's on the web when we have the disposable income to do so without even breaking stride. If you ask the average person whether they'd prefer to pay for web content or cop ads and trackers, they'd probably tell you to shove your subscription service or whatever alternative you can come up wi…

The problem with paying for content for people outside of that bubble is that the prices are way too high. Consider how much money an average visitor earns a site through ads. In relation, paying 5USD a month for an ad-free subscription to that same content seems ridiculous. I'd wager that's even more money than a newspaper subscription sans the printing costs.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#76

Post by newscracker »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #57
newscracker wrote: post #55

Those who want a world where Firefox has a higher market share and mind share, please consider doing the following: 1. Evangelize Firefox to people you know any chance you get and show them all the reasons why its better than Chrome (focus on privacy as an important point). Show them how great browsing can be with a few key extensions (like uBlock Origin, Containers, Privacy Possum, etc.). This does not imply that Mo…

Is there some way to ensure the donation money will actually go to Firefox and not to some sort of "diversity" campaign?

I get the desire to fund one specific project directly (like I get to do with Mozilla Thunderbird where I know I'm donating to that project directly) or at least have part of one's donations go to the development of Firefox. But it doesn't seem like that's possible at all. I have edited my comment above to reflect that.

I personally value everything that Mozilla Foundation does (including diversity campaigns) and wouldn't hesitate to donate to it (I've been donating for a few years now), but I would also like to donate to Mozilla Corporation and directly fund its activities, even if it means some money may go to Pocket or Lockwise or anything else. I don't want to micromanage how the company manages my money. It would be defeatist and unfair to ask that, IMO.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#77

Post by jdc »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #57
newscracker wrote: post #55

Those who want a world where Firefox has a higher market share and mind share, please consider doing the following: 1. Evangelize Firefox to people you know any chance you get and show them all the reasons why its better than Chrome (focus on privacy as an important point). Show them how great browsing can be with a few key extensions (like uBlock Origin, Containers, Privacy Possum, etc.). This does not imply that Mo…

Is there some way to ensure the donation money will actually go to Firefox and not to some sort of "diversity" campaign?

If you are trying to avoid funding administration/marketing you can offer bug bounties for Firefox or Servo.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#78

Post by a254613e »

shadykiller wrote: post #3

Switched to Firefox a few months back. Havn’t missed Chrome at all

To offer a bit of an opposite view here on HN:

I give firefox a shot from time to time. I switch all devices to it, and then I use it exclusively all the time.

My most recent attempt failed few days ago, after a bit more than a month with it.

Firefox performance just doesn't feel the same as chrome, from constant small freezes, to using 100% CPU pretty often.

And just overall experience on some platforms - especially macOS doesn't feel native at all. On top of that some websites don't support it that good (not Firefox's fault here - but I don't want to deal with that day to day).

Firefox also seemed snappier on the first few runs, but as the time went on I didn't find it faster or feeling less bloated than chrome as a lot of people like to portray it.

Chrome for me, as an average user, does not have any of these downsides. The closest to a downside for some people you could pin to chrome is that it's owned by google.

At the end of the day, chrome gets the job done, and does it without being in my way, on all the platforms I use, - and that's what I want from a browser, so for now I'm sticking with chrome.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#79

Post by martin_a »

interactivecode wrote: post #68
skocznymroczny wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there some way to ensure the donation money will actually go to Firefox and not to some sort of "diversity" campaign?

Yikes why would you not want companies investing in diversity? Especially if they are the interface to our online world?

While wording could be improved, the point stands. I want my money to be used for working on Firefox (the core browser) and for that exclusively. Not something like Pocket or whatever Mozilla thinks it should bring out that nobody asked for. There is no way to ensure this, so I will not give any money at all.

Re: In a swipe at Chrome, Firefox now blocks ad trackers by default

#80

Post by frankzander »

skocznymroczny wrote: post #57
newscracker wrote: post #55

Those who want a world where Firefox has a higher market share and mind share, please consider doing the following: 1. Evangelize Firefox to people you know any chance you get and show them all the reasons why its better than Chrome (focus on privacy as an important point). Show them how great browsing can be with a few key extensions (like uBlock Origin, Containers, Privacy Possum, etc.). This does not imply that Mo…

Is there some way to ensure the donation money will actually go to Firefox and not to some sort of "diversity" campaign?

Good point!
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