In principle I could even see myself supporting Mozilla's advertising thing.
It would not be a bad idea, in general, to have a privacy-preserving, ethical advertising network. It would serve as an alternative for vendors, and as an example to regulators that this is possible – and that banning targeted advertising can be done without hurting organizations that rely on ads to stay afloat.
Problem is, I don't trust Mozilla to hold up their side of this.
I used to, but not anymore.
Mozilla has been experiencing a trust problem for years, and should have done some real soul-searching and focusing on regaining that trust – which would allow it to dive into projects like the ad network thing with community support.
Instead, they keep doing things that either seem irrelevant, or outright alienate their core audience. Logo redesign. AI. Now the ads thing.
Or, well, what used to be their core audience:
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/09/am-i-still-in-mozillas-target-audience/
At some point they will hit a Trust Thermocline, if they haven't already:
https://every.to/p/breaching-the-trust-thermocline-is-the-biggest-hidden-risk-in-business
This is a great moment for someone to come in and offer what Mozilla's the soon-to-be-former core audience is looking for.
And that core audience will then promote it among their friends and family, on their campuses, and in their workplaces.
Exactly the same way Firefox was being promoted, very successfully, when the Web was young.
Anyway...
Firefox users: can we have the RSS button back please?
Mozilla: no, nobody wants that.
Also Mozilla: hey we're building an ad network!
@rysiek at least we have some independent browsers like ladybug in the works
@rysiek
The Evil has taken over...
For a fist full of 'bit coins'.
@rysiek Livemarks is a good addon for Firefox. I have several RSS feeds on the go.
@rysiek
(now former) Firefox users: Fuck you, I'm using Librewolf.
@drakenblackknight yeah, it might be a decent stop-gap solution.
Long term we need a fully independent fork or a completely new browser.
@rysiek
I've said the same thing about browsers running the Blink engine that said they weren't going with Google's Manifest V3 mandate and how an alternate extension store is needed.
@rysiek Ads keep the internet cheap and available for every income.
The problem is less with ads, for me, but more with the profiling and tracking of user data. If we can have an advertisement platform that actually respects user privacy and avoids tracking, the internet can become a slightly better place again.
@dynom that would be contextual ads, the technology exists and is way simpler than any privacy-invading tracking ads stuff. But that doesn't seem to be what Mozilla is building.
@rysiek if possible yes. But contextual isn't always possible. And then the options are currently limited (Google practically owns the place). Having options next to Google is not a bad thing.
When running without targetable context (e.g. timelines or so) ad space needs to be sold for far cheaper and far fewer advertisers are interested in renting in the first place. This limits ad quality and revenue, so even more ads need to be shown to make it worth renting it out in the first place.
@dynom I gotta ask: have you read the thread you are responding to?
@rysiek no i haven't, i only saw your boosted reply in my timeline initially, I replied to you specifically.