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Mozilla to expand focus on advertising - "We know that not everyone in our community will embrace our entrance into this market" (blog.mozilla.org)

submitted 2 months ago by golden_zealot@lemmy.ml to c/firefox@lemmy.ml

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[-] modulus@lemmy.ml 59 points 2 months ago

I kept giving Mozilla the benefit of the doubt and telling myself things weren't so bad.

I was wrong.

I'll continue using Firefox because it's the least bad option, but I can't advocate for it in good faith anymore, and I don't expect it to last long with this orientation.

So it goes.

[-] Redex68@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Ok sure, what do you want them to do instead then? 80% of their income is reliant on a tech giant's grace and is seemingly more and more likely to be cutoff soon. They need to survive somehow, and every monetised service they tried flopped thusfar.

[-] doleo@lemmy.one 19 points 2 months ago

How about not have a multi-million-dollar-costing CEO? Seems a bit rich (pun intended) for a supposed non-profit org.

[-] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world -1 points 2 months ago

Yeah I'm not defending that but CEO pay only rounds to like 1% of their total expenditures. Developing a browser is expensive.

[-] doleo@lemmy.one 7 points 2 months ago

only 1%? That's about on par with a fortune 500 company, which supposedly Mozilla is not.

[-] Xiisadaddy@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 months ago

Maybe im a dumbass, but im currently using an entire operating system that is community funded, and made. How is it that its possible to do it with linux, and all the things that go with linux, but a web browser can't do it without getting into ads? Why are web browsers so special that they just need oogles and oogles of money to function?

[-] bunitor@lemmy.eco.br 2 points 2 months ago

sadly, the web has become so complex and it changes so fast that it's now almost impossible to keep up with the standard, so only google and mozilla are able to do it

thanks google!

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago

Ideas:

directly ask for donations, and actually use those donations to fund browser development
build an add-on to pay sites instead of seeing ads - Mozilla could take a cut here
push harder on existing, optional add-ons that generate revenue, like their VPN

But the article here reads like, "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas. Have ads..."

[+] tux0r@feddit.org -19 points 2 months ago

What makes you think that developing a free web browser needs to grant anyone any income?

[-] Metz@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

Do you think developers don't have to eat? or pay rent? And donations alone do not cut it.

[+] tux0r@feddit.org -19 points 2 months ago

Being a developer myself (with no ads in his software), I don’t think you understand my point. The software I write in my free time does not pay my bills. That’s why I also have an actual job.

[-] Metz@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You are aware that there are full-time developers working at Mozilla, yes? Developing a browser is not a hobby-project that you can pull off with some volunteers in their free time. You need professionals that work on such a giant project with their full attention.

Developing Firefox is their job. And of course they want to get paid for that (and deserve it). Just like you get paid for your actual job.

[+] tux0r@feddit.org -18 points 2 months ago

(and deserve it)

Please enlighten me: how do they deserve to be paid for a non-profit product?

[-] Metz@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

How does someone deserve to be paid for work done? Is that your question?

Is this some kind of pathetic troll attempt?

I will not reward that with further attention.

[-] nitefox@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

Non profit means their earnings must match their expenses or be used to actually improve the product/service, not that they earn nothing at all

[-] abbenm@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago

Non-profit doesn't mean that there's no employees. They're still organizations that have a cash flow, seek to raise funds, and employ people to serve their mission. Most non-profits have paid employees.

[-] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 months ago

People who work at non-profits aren't volunteering.

[-] hangonasecond@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Non profit does not mean what you think it means

[-] Joeffect@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

I could see them trying to take themselves away from Google which wouldn't be a bad thing as that's where most of the money comes from for them ... Unless that's changed recently..

[-] GetOffMyLan@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

I'm afraid it won't last long without it. That's the key problem.

People hate ads, as do I, but what's the alternative?

[-] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago

Pay executives less. Focus on grants and PBS-style 'underwriting'. Subscription services like email and VPN.

Getting into advertising is just jumping into an intractable conflict of interest.

[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago

No ads?

[-] GetOffMyLan@programming.dev 3 points 2 months ago

People need money mate. Not everyone can afford to run a website.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ideas:

donations - these need to actually go toward Firefox development, they don't, so I don't donate
paid services (e.g. their white-labeled VPN, they could also white-label Tuta or Proton services)
and add-on that pays sites to not see ads (my preference)
funding of privacy-oriented startups - they have something like this, so do more of it

this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024

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