Among the initial advertisers in the new tab page were CVS Health, the company that operates the CVS chain of drug stores, and Booking.com, a travel and accommodation site that's part of Priceline.
Sponsored tiles will occupy one or more of the thumbnails that appear in the Firefox new tab page -- the number of thumbnails depends on the size of the browser window, but appears to max out at 15 -- which historically has displayed a user's most-frequently-accessed websites.
Mozilla's original ad pitch said that only new Firefox users would see the sponsored tiles, a way to fill some of the spots that had not yet been populated with websites. Long-time Firefox users were to see only their most-frequently-visited sites.
That's not quite how it now works.
"A separate feature, Enhanced Tiles, will improve upon the existing new tab page experience for users who already have a history in their browser," Darren Herman, Mozilla's vice president of content services -- a relatively new position in the organization -- said in a blog post today.
It's gonna improve upon my existing new tab page experience! Fuck yeah...this is what I've been wanting all along! I want to see lots of ads, right in my browser. Thanks Mozilla!
Herman promised that Mozilla would not collect the kind of user data that most ad networks vacuum up. "Running sponsored content in Tiles is results-based, not surveillance-based,"Herman said. "We do not allow tracking beacons or code in Tiles."
By "results-based,"Herman meant that Mozilla will tell advertisers how many times their tile was clicked.
Pretty much sounds like a load of bullshit.
Herman also said that the current version of the new tab page ads might not resemble those of the future. "We believe that we can do this, and offer a better way to deliver and to receive adverts that users find useful and relevant," Herman added.
Exactly what I wrote above. Note the keyword, "better". Fuck Mozilla and their stupid "foundation".
http://www.computerworld.com/article/28 ... refox.html