Firefox is getting new places for advertising. Ads called Sponsored Shortcuts or Sponsored Tiles appear on the home page when you open a new tab. This is still an experimental function which can also be deactivated.

According to Mozilla, only a small percentage initially sees the ad. How these people were selected remains unclear. The spaces on the home page are filled with an advertising partner. One click on an ad earns Mozilla money.

The partner is currently adMarketplace. This is what he says in the Mozilla blog post: “Privacy is fundamental to Mozilla’s mission, and we only work with advertising partners who meet our standards for Firefox. If someone clicks on an ad, the browser transmits “anonymized technical data” through a Mozilla proxy whose code is available on Github. The data transmitted does not contain any customizable information or possibility of identification.

Reject and deselect function

Individual tiles can be deleted. Each screen has a three-point menu in the upper right corner for this purpose. Behind it are the options to delete the ad, open it in a new window or in a new private window and find out more about the sponsor and your own privacy.

In order to remove all the function, that is to say not to see any advertising, there is the option of preferences in the settings of Firefox. Sponsored shortcuts can be deselected under Home.

Mozilla’s financial worries

Mozilla has been struggling financially for some time. Last year, individual services had to be retired and some employees were made redundant – a restructuring followed. To that end, Mozilla’s VPN was recently launched in Germany, a service the company hopes to make money with.

(emw)