Mozilla to bring ads to Firefox Web browser, will affect new users

Advertisements are coming to the Firefox Web browser, but they will only be visible to new users.

Mozilla, the organization that makes the popular Web browser, said this week it plans to roll out a new feature that will display sponsored content within Firefox when users open a new, blank tab.

The way Firefox works now, users see nine of the websites they visit most often whenever they open a new browser tab. However, new Firefox users simply see a blank page because they don’t have a browsing history that can be used to suggest their favorite websites.

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“Their tiles -- those nine rectangles that populate over time with the most frequent and recent websites they visit -- are empty,” Mozilla said in a blog this week. “The new tab page isn’t delivering any value for them.”

Mozilla said it plans to add value for new users by suggesting sponsored content from the organization’s “hand-picked partners” when they open blank tabs. Mozilla said is will also suggest popular websites and other services provided by the organization.

“The sponsored tiles will be clearly labeled as such, while still leading to content we think users will enjoy,” Mozilla said.

Mozilla said that it has begun talking to content partners and will display the sponsored content “as soon as we have the user experience right.”

For now, the plan is to only display the advertisements to new users. However, Mozilla told The Times it later may decide to show ads to more users.

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