Mozilla Tinkers With Browser Advertising Ideas

Mozilla Tinkers With Browser Advertising Ideas

Mozilla is trying a new tack with online advertising, hoping to bring in some bucks by making use of otherwise empty space on Firefox's opening page. Instead of surprising users with the new sponsored content, Mozilla is easing them into the idea. "With the right strategy, and by taking care not to annoy users, this could work for Mozilla," said tech analyst David Johnson.

Mozilla on Tuesday gave its users a heads-up that their browsers would be getting a new feature called "Directory Tiles."

Aimed at new or infrequent Firefox users, Directory Tiles fills what has been empty online real estate on the Firefox browser. A new user logging in, or a user returning to the browser after some time will be confronted with a page populated with rectangular outlines. For regular Firefox users, those rectangles are filled with screenshots of the websites they frequently visit.

For everyone else, Mozilla plans to populate them with prepackaged content. Some of the Directory Tiles will be from the Mozilla ecosystem, some will be popular websites in a given geographic location, and some will be sponsored content, according to VP of Content Services Darren Herman.

"The sponsored tiles will be clearly labeled as such, while still leading to content we think users will enjoy," he wrote in a blog post.

Road Map Still Under Development

Mozilla hasn't completely thought through the product road map for Directory Tiles, Herman acknowledged. Rather, it appears the company is in the initial stages of the project, just beginning to talk to content partners about the opportunity.

Users will see the concept once "we have the user experience right," he concluded.