Firefox will show sponsored content that’s personalized but private

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/firefox-will-show-sponsored-content-thats-personalized-but-private/

by mediocrejoker • 8 years ago

8 2 8 years ago

yborg• 8 years ago

This is the opposite of why I want to use Firefox. Mozilla has really lost its way.

nitemice• 8 years ago

While on the surface this sounds like a terrible idea, their technique for working out what to show you is actually pretty clever.

The browser will download a list of recommended links each day. Each link will also have a list of related websites, with similar kinds of content to that in the sponsored links. The browser will then compare these related sites to your browsing history; if there are lots of matches, Firefox will assume that you're interested in the recommended content and show it to you.

That said, I don't think it's a smart move from a PR perspective, and the majority of Firefox's hardcore fans are going to rage against this, because it's exactly the kind of thing these users are using Firefox to avoid.

I'll probably leave it enabled for a while and see if it recommends anything worthwile, otherwise I'll disable it.

Firefox will show sponsored content that’s personalized but private

Related Stories