Ads are coming to Mozilla's Firefox browser.
The company today announced that it is experimenting with something known as Directory Tiles, which will display ads in new, blank tabs.
Right now, new users who open the Firefox browser see nine blank boxes (pictured below). As they use Firefox, those boxes are populated with quick links to the sites they visit most. Going forward, those boxes will display a mix of Mozilla-recommended sites as well as paid ads.
"The sponsored tiles will be clearly labeled as such, while still leading to content we think users will enjoy," Darren Herman, Mozilla's vice president of content services, wrote in a blog post.
"We are excited about Directory Tiles because it has inherent value to our users, it aligns with our vision of a better Internet through trust and transparency, and it helps Mozilla become more diversified and sustainable as a project," Herman said.
Full details are still being worked out and ads have not yet begun showing up. Herman said Mozilla will "start showing Directory Tiles to new Firefox users as soon as we have the user experience right."
Mozilla has not always seen eye-to-eye with digital advertisers, particularly its main trade group, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), he added. The group, for example, was not pleased when browser makers like Mozilla moved to block Internet cookies by default. Mozilla has since said that it is working on the best way to handle the cookie situation.
Herman said Mozilla was invited to the IAB's annual leadership meeting this week, during which it discussed Mozilla's perspective. "We think they'd agree that users' interests should come first, and we want to help their members deliver compelling content to strengthen the Web ecosystem," Herman said.
For more, see PCMag's review of Firefox.