Firefox placing ads on my browser
This is BEYOND excusable.
I opened up FF today, from a nice new update, to see that there are now paid ads that will force their way onto my browser's favorites. Is... is there a reason for this? I know it wasn't an add-on that did this, since I only have 1 installed for the past couple of years without issues.
Is there a setting for this? Or is it just time to move on to a new browser? I'd rather use Edge than deal with a browser that adds sponsored crap without my permission.
All Replies (4)
Hi flafe5, someone has to pay for this browser. But you don't have to see those if you don't want to.
Currently, I can't find a specific checkbox for sponsored Top Sites tiles [see next reply], but there is a preference you can flip:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.
(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste sponsor and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.showSponsoredTopSites preference to switch the value from true to false
Note: the browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.showSponsored preference is for the Recommended By Pocket section. (That one has a checkbox on the Options page.)
Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
More info:
This is a test, which would explain why I haven't seen this is any of my profiles yet. According to the support article "Sponsored shortcuts on the New Tab page," if you are in the test group, you should have a checkbox on the Options page, Home panel, in the expected location to control this feature:
Does that appear on yours?
And if you do not want to participate in Firefox feature experiments, see: About Studies.
From the Firefox Homepage:
"Get the browser that protects what's important No shady privacy policies or back doors for advertisers. Just a lightning fast browser that doesn’t sell you out."
"An extra layer of protection DNS over HTTPS (DoH) helps keep internet service providers from selling your data."
"How Firefox compares to other browsers Get all the speed and tools with none of the invasions of privacy. Firefox Browser collects so little data about you, we don’t even require your email address to download. That’s because unlike other browsers, we have no financial stake in following you around the web."
"We block the ad trackers. You explore the internet faster. Ads are distracting and make web pages load slower while their trackers watch every move you make online. The Firefox Browser blocks most trackers automatically, so there’s no need to dig into your security settings."
Please, PLEASE tell me where, in these supposed statements of what Firefox is, that it talks about how Firefox needs to make money with ads. Because, maybe we're reading a different page, but it SURE seems like they talk a LOT about how there will NOT be ads on my browser.
Needs to make money? That's fine. Great. Fantastic. Then make the ads Opt-In, not Opt-Out. Need to make money? Ask for donations, since the company is registered as a Not-For-Profit enterprise.
Support forum volunteers are not in a position to speak for whoever makes these decisions. We can assist with technical aspects and share what we know. One thing we know is Mozilla fell on hard times this year and had to lay off nearly a quarter of its staff. They will be experimenting with more revenue generating ideas over time.
Here are some places to give feedback about things support volunteers can't change:
Discussion Sites/Advocacy
- Mozilla Discourse: https://discourse.mozilla.org/
If none of the categories seem to fit, try https://discourse.mozilla.org/c/firefox-development - Reddit (monitored by Mozilla): https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/
Limited Length Comments
- Feedback site: https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/
- Twitter (Mozilla official): https://twitter.com/firefox