Posted: 2014-11-19 16:55
The Mozilla "Foundation" went ahead with their idiotic plan on shoving ads down users' throats. They are completely defying open source and free software concepts, and everybody should fight back against this hideous move. I took a look at version 33.1 on a Windows machine, and even though the ads can be shut off by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner, it's the principal that the functionality is even there which also matters. It shows that Mozilla is only concerned about their "foundation", and are using the cloak of free software to carry out their subtle and surreptitious plan to increase their revenue. Also, the problem with this move is, what's next? If people accept this and don't fight it, then Mozilla will go even further and put more ads in the browser. Sure, they can be turned off now by clicking the gear icon, but maybe in the future things will get different. Mozilla did analytics on users earlier to see how much shit they were willing to have flung at their face, so this is just another experiment by Mozilla to see at which point they can make it very difficult or impossible to shut the ads off. I wouldn't be surprised if there's spying going on and data which is sent back to a central server tracking the user, as far as when they opened a tab page, when they clicked on an ad, when they didn't click on an ad, or when all place holders were full (showing no ads). The last example in the aforementioned list would be an opportunity for Mozilla to use analytics to determine how to show even more ads to users when all the place holders are full. It's just like Microsoft: Microsoft will take as much leeway as customers give them. People give an inch, and they take a mile. As soon as people start complaining about intrusive and nasty spy features, Microsoft pulls back a little bit, but they're not pulling back much (and neither are a lot of other software companies), as people are in what I call "malaise-mode" -- an apathetic state where they are mesmerized by their smartphone, tablet, and Netflix.
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!
Pretty much sounds like a load of bullshit.
Exactly what I wrote above. Note the keyword, "better". Fuck Mozilla and their stupid "foundation".
http://www.computerworld.com/article/28 ... refox.html
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