I realized Internet advertising has always been full of scammy spammy clickbait ("you won’t believe this 1 trick they don’t want you to know!) but I expected “sponsored by Pocket/Mozilla Firefox” content to be better than the crap that filled chumbox providers like Zergnet, Outbrain, Taboola etc:
The first is a scammy malware “system optimizer” if you recall www.finallyfast.com type things from last decade
“Huusk” doesn’t even sound Japanese and it appears to be dropshipped from mainland China crap
Mozilla has seen much better days. Their revenue stream took a huge hit when Google (who had previously recommended Firefox) introduced their own browser. And they are heavily reliant on their search engine deal with Google for revenue. Prior to their current three-year deal being signed, they were prepared for massive layoffs.
I’ve developed an aversion to cheap (primarily Chinese) shit on Amazon. It’s not that I won’t buy it anymore, but it has to be darn near my only option.
I keep saying that the tech (and publishing) world’s refusal to do even the bare minimum of quality control on its advertising is going to be its downfall in the long run. You’re seeing the beginnings of it in the UK and in the near future the EU with with very heavy handed legislation coming in.
I’m assuming that sponsored content pulls from your “interests” somehow (either via how they’ve tracked you, or from your profile). I generally find the Firefox ads innocuous – right now they seem to be focused on solar energy (something I’ve been searching about) and meal kits (which I’m guessing is just a default when they don’t know what the fuck else to show you, since I sure as hell have no interest in meal kits).
I’ve never seen ads like the ones in the OP for utter garbage products. I wonder if there are ways to tweak what you see (sort of like how you can report certain ads for being offensive – I used to do that for all ads on facebook).
they’re not pulled from my customizations at all since I’m not signed into my Firefox account… These are the generic “stories of interest” suggested by Poicket but there’s always one in the middle, in the top row that’s garbage.
I’d assume they’re not tracking, that is the point of FF, but it’s not surprising to me that means you also get the trash tier of ads. Without making the former unappealing/impossible, that’s the way to go, hurting the bottom line of anyone trying to be a little ethical.
I think it does pull from some tracking cookies and stuff even if not logged in, but that said, the semi-targeted content I get is still often rife with clickbait or outright scams.
I adblock aggressively so I don’t see the trash in chumboxes but I know Ars/Conde Nast and NYT etc avail themselves of that ad money so they are mainstream still, and filled with scams.
