Mozilla's Pocket begins sticking sponsored content in new Firefox tabs

Free browsers sound nice, but at the end of the day, something's got to pay the bills.

Mozilla announced last week that its Firefox browser would begin featuring ads, in what Pocket founder and CEO Nate Weiner referred to in a blog post as "a privacy-conscious approach to sponsored content." Today, those ads have begun rolling out in the browser's beta and nightly builds, The Register reports.

SEE ALSO: Mozilla makes 'tracking protection' the default on Firefox for iOS

Mozilla acquired read-it-later application Pocket last year. The service now populates new Firefox tabs with reading suggestions.

Soon, however, in addition to your morning news, you'll start seeing sponsored links among Pocket's suggestions.

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Despite the current controversy surrounding online ad sales, it seems that when it comes to Mozilla, your data are safe for the moment.

Credit: Pocket

Mozilla claims that the recommendations will be personalized based on your browsing history, but that "neither Mozilla nor Pocket receives a copy of your browser history. The entire process of sorting and filtering which stories you should see happens locally in your copy of Firefox."

And don't worry: If you adamantly prefer ad-free tabs, you can also elect not to see sponsored content. Just go to the New Tab Preferences icon at the top right corner of your new tab, and uncheck "Show Sponsored Stories."

The feature will roll out with Firefox 60, which is due May 9.

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