Mozilla Quietly Deploys Built-In Firefox Advertising

Megalith

Megalith

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At this rate, I feel like Mozilla wants everyone to stop using Firefox or something.

…Firefox does send your browser history to Mozilla. Once there, your raw data is stored in the system's storage and analysis engine, Disco. The aggregated data is then saved to a data warehouse, Redshift. This data is then used to create high-level aggregate reports for advertisers.
 
Well damn. I want to continue using Firefox, but this is too much. It's also built-in so I doubt we can remove it either... :(
 
As long as there is a way to block it. Or, as long as the ads stay in the tiles when opening a blank tab. If they put them anywhere else, buh-bye Firefox.
 
Yakk said:
Well damn. I want to continue using Firefox, but this is too much. It's also built-in so I doubt we can remove it either... :(
Click to expand...

Its open source. there's always a way to remove it. Definitely not suggesting to build it yourself (unless you're a pro, then have at it), but try a variation build, like waterfox or pale moon.

I dont really see "switch to google chrome!" as a valid option to counter this; google is an ad company, you know theyre taking your data and using it for ad reasons.
 
Jeez. I'm the computer guy, I've told people for years to use Firefox and Adblock Plus to not have to see ads, now Mozilla has gone and made me a liar.
 
bisby said:
Its open source. there's always a way to remove it. Definitely not suggesting to build it yourself (unless you're a pro, then have at it), but try a variation build, like waterfox or pale moon.

I dont really see "switch to google chrome!" as a valid option to counter this; google is an ad company, you know theyre taking your data and using it for ad reasons.
Click to expand...
And that's why we have open source. Pale Moon or WaterFox will fix this.
 
I have to keep firefox installed as it is the only browser that opens up the web interface on one of our copiers. I.E. and Google just display a blank page.
 
So what is a good one to use now, that is not IE/Edge or Chrome?
Opera? LOL
 
Best! Feature! Ever!

Anywho, I guess it's time to switch to some other browser. IP address logging, history logging, no apparent opting out. Meh, that's too creepy and I was just kinda warming up to using it too since it's the default on Linux Mint.
 
2 seconds to fix, in about:config or user.js

// Disable new tab tile ads & preload
// http://www.thewindowsclub.com/disable-remove-ad-tiles-from-firefox
// http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=13876331#p13876331
user_pref("browser.newtabpage.enhanced", false);
user_pref("browser.newtab.preload", false);
// https://wiki.mozilla.org/Tiles/Technical_Documentation#Ping
user_pref("browser.newtabpage.directory.ping", "");
Click to expand...

more here: https://gist.github.com/spcmd/ec0499117038cade97be
 
Why does Mozilla still have such Chrome Envy?
Chrome is NOT a browser you want to emulate.
 
bisby said:
Its open source. there's always a way to remove it. Definitely not suggesting to build it yourself (unless you're a pro, then have at it), but try a variation build, like waterfox or pale moon.

I dont really see "switch to google chrome!" as a valid option to counter this; google is an ad company, you know theyre taking your data and using it for ad reasons.
Click to expand...

vibe said:
2 seconds to fix, in about:config or user.js



more here: https://gist.github.com/spcmd/ec0499117038cade97be
Click to expand...

Thanks, going to go take a look. Thought it would've been a much bigger PITA to do.

And no, I won't consider Chrome obviously!
 
Should be able to block this by adding the servers to the Hosts file. Just need the server(s) address.
 
Spire3660 said:
It also misses the point that Mozilla is no longer trusted.
Click to expand...

Considering the concurrency of the Windows 10 story today, I'm not sure there is much left to consider 'trusted' these days. Everything is collected/analyzed on *ANY* smartphone these days, in the name of advertising.

Seems sooner or later it would get on the desktop as well.
 
Anything that can be monetized will be eventually. Google as a whole has been very good at doing it very slowly and fairly unobtrusively, giving away much for free and integrating themselves into our daily lives. When it gets to the point where people no longer look at alternative options, where we as a collective say "that's just the way it is" is when a company can truly make profits.

Mozilla/Firefox doesn't have the juice to pull off telling people what they are going to have to put up with. I've been using FF for years but I'll have no problem moving to another browser if it means not having to look at ads.

I'd sooner pay $$ to not see ads, which might very well be the direction they are heading in the long run.
 
tec805 said:
Anything that can be monetized will be eventually. Google as a whole has been very good at doing it very slowly and fairly unobtrusively, giving away much for free and integrating themselves into our daily lives. When it gets to the point where people no longer look at alternative options, where we as a collective say "that's just the way it is" is when a company can truly make profits.

Mozilla/Firefox doesn't have the juice to pull off telling people what they are going to have to put up with. I've been using FF for years but I'll have no problem moving to another browser if it means not having to look at ads.

I'd sooner pay $$ to not see ads, which might very well be the direction they are heading in the long run.
Click to expand...

That's a slippery slope - when does it end? :p

Elite Package - no ads for 6 months - $59.99
Deluxe package - 1 ad per month - $29.99
Light package - 3 ads per week - $9.99
Free package - All the ads you can haz - $0.00

(Gotta play that 16GB/64GB tier game too, and properly monetize and trap people in the 2nd tier lol)
 
bisby said:
I dont really see "switch to google chrome!" as a valid option to counter this; google is an ad company, you know theyre taking your data and using it for ad reasons.
Click to expand...

No, no, no, you're looking at it all wrong, browsing history is a feature of syncing your browser data with your gmail account.
 
potency said:
No, no, no, you're looking at it all wrong, browsing history is a feature of syncing your browser data with your gmail account.
Click to expand...

To link with your phone, GPS location, and Google Wallet pay history, all time-stamped. Very useful to know .. well.. everything you do really.
 
Mav451 said:
Considering the concurrency of the Windows 10 story today, I'm not sure there is much left to consider 'trusted' these days. Everything is collected/analyzed on *ANY* smartphone these days, in the name of advertising.

Seems sooner or later it would get on the desktop as well.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what OS/browser/ISP/device you have, if you're using the Internet then your information has been collected by multiple groups for a long time. It has just gotten to the point now that those groups don't care if you know what they've been doing, because what are you really going to be able to do about it?
 
You can turn off the tiles on the settings when you open a new tab. Anyone know if that also stops the data reporting?
 
I'm fine with their ads as long as I never see them. if they start inserting them into my active session I'll go elsewhere for the browser. I use Firefox because they tend to update often and I like a few addons.
 
Yakk said:
Well damn. I want to continue using Firefox, but this is too much. It's also built-in so I doubt we can remove it either... :(
Click to expand...

*** According to Mozilla's site, you can turn off suggestions and remove the tiles completely which will stop this form of tracking/invasion :D

Ref: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-tiles-new-tab
"Turn off suggested sites instead by clicking the cog icon and removing the check mark next to Include suggested sites or selecting Show blank page to remove Tiles completely."
Click to expand...

The one thing I could not find was an easy answer to whether or not Mozilla and Firefox tracked any of your other activity for its vendor initiative regardless of the tiles being disabled.

The Do Not Track(DNT) feature appears apply toward websites and not to the browser itself. So, the question lingered ;)

On several of my own systems (Windows 10), I have ALL Cortana and location fixing disabled and predominantly use Chrome in incognito-mode in conjunction with a VPN(when possible) simply because it operates faster and more reliably than has Firefox (for me).
 
Mav451 said:
Considering the concurrency of the Windows 10 story today, I'm not sure there is much left to consider 'trusted' these days. Everything is collected/analyzed on *ANY* smartphone these days, in the name of advertising.

Seems sooner or later it would get on the desktop as well.
Click to expand...

That's why I still have a blackberry.
 
I use a add-on called new tab homepage. That eliminates the problem for me altogether. That way I get a choice of what I see each time I open up a new tab. Not some stupid blank page. Mozila needs to figure out how to make money without chasing away its loyal users.
 
Well just tried Pale Moon and I'm loving it. Goodbye Chrome and Firefox.
 
ymer said:
Well just tried Pale Moon and I'm loving it. Goodbye Chrome and Firefox.
Click to expand...


Just jumped ship myself. Most firefox plugins work (a few have palemoon specific alternatives). So far I'm finding its actually faster and uses less memory.
 
I don't even know what are these "tiles" the article refers too, and I've been using firefox for years.
 
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