Mozilla Debuts Firefox Extension that Recommends Content Based on Your Browsing Activity (venturebeat.com)

Mozilla on Tuesday began testing a Firefox extension that shows you its best guesses for what you want to see on the web. From a report: The Advance web extension is available for anyone from today and can analyze content on current active web pages to recommend related tidbits you may want to "read next" from other websites. It will also surface recommendations based on your recent browsing history in a "for you" section. With the extension installed, you just browse the web as you normally would and the little sidebar will show things that are relevant to what you've been looking at. The extension is powered by Laserlike, a VC-funded, machine learning-powered "interest search engine" that delivers personalized content. As such, Laserlike will receive users' browsing history -- something Mozilla wants people to understand before they install the extension. But the company has also built in some tools to boost control and data transparency.

Comments

Who asked for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

And please be **specific**....

Re:Who asked for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

The NSA and the GCHQ.

Re:Who asked for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Some project team at Mozilla, same as the ones that want to ignore your DNS settings and route it all through their selected provider. Or the ones that forced pocket into the browser when it should have been an extension. Maybe even the ones who hilariously run this.

Re:Who asked for this?

[vux984]

If I had to guess I would expect Laserlike is paying for this, and is paying Mozilla to develop and promote it.

And that's fine.

It's an extension.
And it's pretty clearly disclosed what it does.

It's not something I would ever want; but its the right way to do it, and really its how pocket should have been done too.

Re:Who asked for this?

[gman003]

If they can do a better job of it than Google, I'm all for it.

Google *also* has access to all my browsing, as much as I try not to let them, and they make some hilariously bad recommendations despite all that info. "Oh, you're really big into astronomy and space exploration? Here's a horoscope (for a different astrological sign, not that it matters), a Nabiru conspiracy theory, some Apollo conspiracy theories, and some supermoon crap", "Oh, you watch Youtube documentaries on WW1? Did you know Obama is still coming to take your guns away?", "Oh, you've been searching for info on how Super Nintendo graphics worked and haven't found as much as you hoped? Let's fill that void with rants about SJWs ruining video games. I know you've got a Tumblr and voted for Hillary and probably actually *are* a SJW, but trust me, you want to read this.", "Oh, you're into Magic: The Gathering? Here's the results of the last big Texas Hold'Em tournament. Card games are all basically the same, right?".

Mozilla's also shown a higher willingness to consider privacy. Their existing "you might be interested in" system is strictly client-side - it downloads a small database, and then client-side determines which ones are relevant to you, so your history never has to leave your machine. I don't know if this new one will work the same way, but my baseline expectations are higher than for just about anyone else.

Re:Who asked for this?

[mikael]

Then they will supply it pre-installed with Firefox downloads. Then to improve speed and performance, it becomes built into the browser.

Re:Who asked for this?

[nospam007]

I did.
I'm a Bigfoot porn aficionado and I wanted to see new sites but this extensions only shows me Sasquatch and Yeti porn, which is completely different.
After all I'm no perv.

Re:Who asked for this?

[vux984]

And we can properly call that out when it happens. But right now, doing it as a separate and optional extension that is not enabled by default is about as reasonable as it gets.

Still No!

[Anonymous Coward]

>Laserlike, a VC-funded, machine learning-powered "interest search engine" that delivers personalized content.

Yeah. Sounds as legit as the ASK Toolbar.

Re:Still No!

[Anonymous Coward]

That description begins with finance, progresses through vague but tech-sounding buzzwords, and ends with exactly what everyone else already delivers: you know exactly in what order that company thinks (money first and hype second, with product as an afterthought). I guarantee you that they are Indians looking to turn tech hype into quick bucks.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Locke2005]

"Honey, why do I keep seeing all these gay porn ads when I'm using our computer?"

You know what interests me?

[smooth wombat]

What I choose to view. I don't need some lousy piece of software trying to guess what I want to view next or might be interested in, especially when someone else will use that information for their benefit. Hey, Mozilla, take your stinking software off me, you damn dirty programmers!

Re:You know what interests me?

[Kjella]

Yes the horror of Spotify suggesting music for you or Netflix/YouTube recommending shows or Amazon/eBay showing you similar/related items you may want. In theory I'd not be that opposed to this extension, but my biggest doubt is that I surf in many different contexts and putting them all in a blender would just get weird. So I expect that rather than being websites that suit my taste it'll be more like constant sponsored ads trying to cash in on whatever I'm looking at right now.

Re:You know what interests me?

[Darinbob]

Based on your eating habits, we suggest a sirloin-tofu-banana smoothie with skittles sprinkles.

The best thing about this extension

[OneHundredAndTen]

The best thing about this extension is that you do not have to install it.

Yeah, I want this

[hyades1]

Lord help the relatives if I ever dropped dead without a chance to reach out theatrically as I took my last breath to nuke this app. That cute little sidebar would probably read like the subject catalog of YouPorn, with maybe a few categories thrown in even they haven't thought of yet.