Firefox is testing 'sponsored stories' in new browser tabs

Pocket for Firefox recommendations

Some Firefox users will soon start seeing sponsored content recommentations when they open a new browser tab.

The stories will appear via Pocket for Firefox – a tool that lets you save sites you want to read later. Once you've saved a site, Pocket suggests other articles you might be interested based on those bookmarked by other users.

Since the release of Firefox Quantum late last year, users in the US, Canada and Germany have been shown three of these recommended stories from Pocket every time they click the New Tab button.

"[Recommended stories are] curated from the millions of items being saved to Pocket every day, so they do a great job of representing what’s worth reading and watching on the web," Mozilla explained in a blog post.

Sponsored stories are currently being tested with a small group of US users taking part in Firefox's Beta program.

Quality control

Mozilla is keen to emphasize that sponsored content will be high quality, and users will be able to disable it completely if they want to. Sponsored stories will also be clearly marked as such.

"We believe we can create a platform that supports high-quality content, respects user privacy, and that puts control back into the hands of users – and do so in a way that’s financially sustainable for the future health of the web," the company said.

Cat Ellis

Cat is the editor of TechRadar's sister site Advnture. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better)