Submission + - Firefox now shows ads as sponsored address bar suggestions (bleepingcomputer.com) 1
waspleg writes: Mozilla is now showing ads in the form of sponsored Firefox contextual suggestions when U.S. users type in the URL address bar. Mozilla says the feature was introduced with Firefox 92 in September to fund development and optimization.
Mozilla describes Firefox Suggest contextual suggestions as opt-in, in BleepingComputer's tests and from what users have reported, the feature is on by default.
Furthermore, Firefox doesn't tag the ads displayed via Firefox Suggest. There is no clear way to identify what a sponsored suggestion and what a regular unsponsored suggestion should look like.
The only way Firefox users will know whether a sponsored suggestion is an ad would be by looking at the URL, but, in many cases, the URL is not clearly visible.
Mozilla describes Firefox Suggest contextual suggestions as opt-in, in BleepingComputer's tests and from what users have reported, the feature is on by default.
Furthermore, Firefox doesn't tag the ads displayed via Firefox Suggest. There is no clear way to identify what a sponsored suggestion and what a regular unsponsored suggestion should look like.
The only way Firefox users will know whether a sponsored suggestion is an ad would be by looking at the URL, but, in many cases, the URL is not clearly visible.
How can Firefox finish destroying itself? (Score:2)
Actually this might not be as terrible an idea as it sounds. It depends on (1) How intrusive the ads are, (2) How relevant the ads are, and (3) Whether Mozilla can convince me they erase the search history within 5 seconds of my decision about the ads.
Oh, wait. They can't do (3) and still get paid for the clicks, can they? So much for that line of analysis. But let me be optimistic and hope that the thoughtful Slashdot discussion will persuade me to be more optimistic. (Why is my oxymoron alarm beeping?)
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