Ads in Firefox address bar proves no place is safe

Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, has worked wonders with resurrecting the browser out of obscurity. They left it to whither on the vine for years while Chrome took over the space. They got their act together in 2016 with Firefox Quantum, making it a kickass browser and once again a viable alternative to Chrome.

Mozilla has always been a non-profit. They make money by taking cash from Google by making Google the default search. Apple does the same thing with Safari. This isn't a big deal. However, reporting from HowtoGeek shows Mozilla has now gone a step further by placing paid results in the address bar when one is entering text.

The new feature, which Mozilla calls Firefox Suggest, is currently available for a limited number of users in the US only. “Beginning in Firefox version 92, you will also receive new, relevant suggestions from our trusted partners based on what you’re searching for. No new data is collected, stored, or shared to make these new recommendations.”

HowToGeek

Look, I get that Mozilla needs money to run things, but C'mon. Ads IN the address bar results while typing? Is nothing sacred? I'd almost want Mozilla to ask for a penny more per each from Google than see this. Firefox has been my go-to 2nd browser for years, and was on deck to do it again now that I'm living with Safari 15. I'd like to have as little cruft in my browser as possible. Mozilla is not doing themselves any favors especially when offerings such as Brave are a single click away.