I mean, I'm not a big fan of it either. On the other hand, I want Firefox to continue to grow and be actively developed and supported. If not from sources like these - to me unobtrusive - ads, where else can their revenue come from?
Not trying to be controversial. Just asking. What business opportunities would we support Mozilla in that we'd be happy with?
While you're not wrong, it's not the right attitude.
I donate to Mozilla every year. It's not chump change either. It's the largest donation I make to an open source project. They are listed as beneficiaries in my will. When I make my donation this year, I'm going to tell them that they risk my next donation going elsewhere if they keep the path they are on.
The web is quickly becoming enshittified and we, users, have some say in this.
The Linux kernel is self supported without ads and many distros are able to make releases without ads. A browser that is our direct connection to each other and the world should be no different.
Librewolf is probably the best candidate but they rely on Firefox to continue developing. Maybe it's time to focus on Librewolf and try to get it working with Firefox.
I will not say that you're not doing the right thing, but I'd suggest reading the financial statements of Mozilla. If you think the way they're steering Firefox is an issue, you may find a few surprises in there.
There was/is a recent lawsuit against Google for paying other browsers to make google the default search engine, and I think it was ruled against Google. And that payment is like 81% of Mozilla's income. So if they have to stop those payments, Mozilla's is gonna have to find some other ways to make money or cut back massively on their budget. So while I don't like ads, if Mozilla has to do this to stay around, I'll support them. If I got any facts wrong here, someone please correct me.
The money that goes in (and out) of Mozilla is well documented. At this point it's mostly google. And it mostly pays for administration of the corporation itself.
I could care less about Mozilla. Supporting for profit businesses is kind of silly as they will never support you. Buy something that you like but don't have blind brand loyalty. You should serve yourself first.
On the other hand, it's the absolute least intrusive marketing, you can turn it off permanently, and it supports Mozilla who are one of the main bulwarks defending privacy.
Targeted marketing is not privacy friendly ever. Mozilla doesn't need your support. It is up to them to make a profit not you. Don't sacrifice yourself for the sake some some company.
Wym "just as", those sponsored links for Firefox have been around for a while, haven't they? I definitely remember turning that setting off a while ago.
Can't you disable it in settings? On android there is an option to toggle off sponsored shortcuts.
I agree they shouldn't force it on but at least with minimal effort and if it's really annoying it's easy to disable.
Yes, you can. The same way you can disable a lot of annoying things in other programs. Still an annoyance at the expense of users, and a gateway to more passive users to click on something unexpected.