how to remove ads from Firefox

Extensions

You’re probably going to need uBlock Origin. That’s a link to the real one, on addons.mozilla.org. Be careful following links to ad blockers. Quite a few of the “ad blockers” that come up in search results or on browser extension directories are adware or worse. (More info: uBlock Origin works best on Firefox · gorhill/uBlock Wiki by Raymond Hill)

Besides that, you might also want some other Firefox extensions to make things better.

Ads on the new tab page

Programmatic ads are coming to the New Tab page.

To get rid of ads on new windows and tabs:

1. Click the menu button (≡) and select Settings.

2. In the menu on the left, select Home.

3. In the Home panel, change Homepage and new windows and New tabs to Blank page.

The other option is to install the Tabby Cat extension, which puts a randomly generated cat illustration on every new page. Could be fun

Sponsored suggestions in search

Owen Nelson points out that ads can show up in search sugestions. These have to be turned off with a separate setting.

1. Go to Settings and select Search.

2. Scroll down to Address Bar — Firefox Suggest and turn off suggestions from sponsors

(According to Firefox Help, our preferred partner is adMarketplace. I guess if you know this company and are fine with their ad system you can leave this on? Let me know.)

Direct results

Go to about:config and set browser.urlbar.quicksuggest.online.enabled to false.

Global Privacy Control

Firefox will already let you send the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal (the other browsers are going to have to catch up) and it’s easy to turn on.

1. From the ≡ menu button, go to Settings.

2. In the Privacy & Security panel, scroll down to Website Privacy Preferences and turn on Tell websites not to sell or share my data.

You can check that it works by going to globalprivacycontrol.org. Look for GPC signal detected at the top of the screen. That site also has links to GPC extensions for other browsers.

Next steps

• fix Google Search

• cleaning up YouTube

For system administrators

(Update 24 Dec 2024) If you have permission to write Firefox policies, preferences can be set and locked for all users. See turning off browser ad features from the command line.

Bonus links

Architecting Consent for AI: Deceptive Patterns in Firefox Link Previews by yoasif. Mozilla is forging ahead, utilizing deceptive patterns (previously known as dark patterns) to nag and annoy people into enabling AI features.

A Mississauga grass by-law has been struck down over freedom of expression by Carly Lewis. Given the nature of Mr. Ruck’s expressive content about the importance of ecological conservation and re-wilding with nature, and his desire to convey this by offering his lifestyle as an example for others, the impugned provisions of the by-law serve to restrict his right to free expression on his own private property in a manner that is not insignificant.

Hacktivist deletes white supremacist websites live onstage during hacker conference by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai. According to the leaked data, WhiteDate had more than 6,500 users, of which 86% were men and 14% women.

Can Mamdani and Khan Prove the Public Still Has Power? by Jay Mandel. While most political transitions prioritize optics and introductions, Khan’s team went underground, assembling a roadmap of immediate legal actions that could cut through the usual gridlock.

The year of technoligarchy by Molly White. Trump’s pursuit of oil and bitcoin demonstrates how thoroughly checks on presidential power have collapsed — and it’s a collapse directly engineered by the technoligarchy. They bankrolled Trump’s campaign, demolished regulators, installed themselves in positions to write policy for industries where they hold significant financial interests, and actively encouraged the destruction or defanging of any institution that might limit presidential power — or their own.

Debunking the AI food delivery hoax that fooled Reddit by Casey Newton. The 18-page document is among the strangest things ever sent to me by a source.

Why Developers Are Ditching Frameworks for Vanilla JavaScript by Alexander T. Williams. The web’s pendulum is swinging back towards minimalism. The rise of native browser APIs, performance-conscious development and the AI-assisted coding wave have made plain JavaScript not only viable again, but also liberating.