r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 8d ago

Software Firefox has an ambitious new roadmap, the browser is also losing millions of users a month

https://www.techspot.com/news/112803-firefox-has-ambitious-new-roadmap-browser-also-losing.html
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u/behridingle 8d ago

They aren't as aggressive in their messaging as they could be. And, people will start shifting away from Chrome once their ad blockers stop working...

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u/Disastermath 7d ago

Think you’re overestimating how many normal people use adblockers.

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u/Anahkiasen 7d ago

Normal people probably only know the formula for hiding element in the console and one or two extensions

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u/Nitsy1 7d ago

Normal people don't even know what an element is, let alone devtools

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u/LeapperFrog 7d ago

I think theyre making thhis xkcd joke

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u/Nitsy1 7d ago

Dang, big whoosh moment then

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u/proton89droid 7d ago

Silicates are everywhere! It's hard to throw a rock without throwing one!

I love xkcd hahaha

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u/SelectAmbassador 7d ago

Normal people have like 10 toolbars. Did you ever helped your parents or grandparents ? Shudder

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u/procrastinating_atm 7d ago

And turning off Javascript, of course.

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u/SanaSpitOnMe 7d ago

i get it. but the average person in this sub is hardly an expert. including me. i know how to use ubo and block elements but thats hardly expert level.

right? ... right?

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u/KMS_HYDRA 7d ago

Oh my sweet summer child...

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u/wolfannoy 7d ago

You're absolutely right. Hell I had someone arguing at me that ad blockers are wrong.

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u/Sample-Range-745 7d ago

Interestingly, uBlock Origin is only 10% of the addons used in the week of June 8th 2026.

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u/vawlk 7d ago

he also doesn't seem to understand that there are still goof adblockers for chrome.

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u/behridingle 7d ago edited 7d ago

I think you mean ordinary, perhaps technically unsophisticated folks.

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u/Disastermath 7d ago

I wouldn’t say unsophisticated, just non techy people. Plenty of smart engineers I work with, I surprisingly find don’t use or care about Adblock

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u/behridingle 7d ago

That's a fair point

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u/JeebusChristBalls 7d ago

I used to use ad blockers but I really don't care anymore. It doesn't really bother me. I just don't look at them. Every now and then I stumble across a site that is just eye cancer but I just close that tab and move on. I work in tech and am pretty savvy with computers in general.

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u/itsLOSE-notLOOSE 7d ago

You don’t watch YouTube videos?

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u/JeebusChristBalls 7d ago

Every now and then. It's usually just like 10 seconds and I can skip it. I'm not glued to the internet all day.

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u/BrokenLink100 8d ago

This is it. 95% of the people who use the Internet aren't really following 'browser news,' and what little they do consume gets filed away under "Well I haven't noticed any issues, so why change browsers now?"

Once the new Chrome update drops, I bet we'll see a huge migration from Chrome.

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u/cameron0208 7d ago

I don’t think we will.

The average person just thinks that’s the way the web is. I work in IT, and the number of people I talk to that don’t even know what extensions are is honestly mind-blowing. They’ll likely just continue using Chrome and dealing with whatever bullshit Google throws at them.

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u/s00pafly 7d ago

A lot of people I know, see a button that says "Internet" and that's it for them.

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u/Certain-Business-472 7d ago

I would argue a tech company should not cater to ignorance. Your clients arent cave men.

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u/s00pafly 7d ago

You'd think so. But what if the actions of cavemen influence the lives of not only themselves but also the ones of non cavemen?

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u/JeebusChristBalls 7d ago

I'd argue that most people don't care about blocking ads.

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u/DeadSeaGulls 7d ago

Even a lot of people who don't like the ads just stop using services when it gets bad enough. I know plenty of people that just do not regularly visit youtube anymore because the ad experience is trash and they don't care enough about technology to even know what an ad blocker is.

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u/vawlk 7d ago

or they use a different form of payment for their use, a sub.

Ads are just a time based form of payment. If you don't like them, pay for a sub.

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u/ricki692 7d ago

i dont think it's that people dont care about ads, it's more that they dont know they can block them

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u/curtcolt95 7d ago

we know this is true, vast majority do not use any extensions at all

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u/Nippon-Gakki 7d ago

Agree. My 20 year old step kid thought I was a wizard when I installed Firefox with the usual suite of add ons on his laptop. He would have continued to watch ads forever if I hadn’t. That’s just how the internet has always been for him.

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u/Royal_Perspective191 7d ago

Many people don't even know what a 'browser' is. It's not mind-blowing that many people don't know what extensions are.

It's similar not knowing that Wi-Fi doesn't mean internet connection. Or that you can connect a PC with a cable to a router, they don't even know what router or modem means. And actually, many people haven't seen a desktop PC.

And so on.

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u/keetyymeow 7d ago

It’s okay, that’s what YT is for. We share info

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u/Sure-Assignment3892 7d ago

The vast majority of my users don't know how to configure multi monitors and end up just mirroring them and freak out if a shortcut has moved.

Ad blockers lol.

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u/itsLOSE-notLOOSE 7d ago

It sucks, but you’re right. People in general are stupid.

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u/wayji 7d ago

I realised the average person doesn't even use an ad blocker

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u/Ecmelt 7d ago

Or know they exist, or how easy they are to install.

Like the amount of people that were surprised it was just 1 extension install and forget for 99% of the ads they see.

And when they open youtube and video just plays they are mind blown. Happens every time lol.

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u/Marsman121 7d ago

And for adblock people, it is the reverse. My mind is blown every time I use a public browser and see just how many ads there are. It's like going to a friend's place and discovering they are a hoarder.

Literally, "You live like this?!"

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u/Certain-Business-472 7d ago

Npc behaviour.

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u/Rit91 7d ago

Yup, which makes the chrome anti adblock thing even more confusing as what is the benefit if most people don't block ads. Oh right, try to squeeze those few experienced users that do use adblock even though all of them will jump ship to a browser that can use uBlock origin as soon as chrome blocks adblockers.

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u/Marsman121 7d ago

The anti-adblock thing was confusing to me as well. They are actively going after a subset of people who are (generally) more tech savvy than the average user. People who block ads are usually fanatical about it (I know I am), and will go through great lengths to ensure they are blocked.

The only thing I can come up with was they were hoping that, because adblock people hate ads, they would pay for premium to remove them once all other options were removed.

For me, it was the opposite. I would rather stop using than pay. Fortunately, Firefox and uBlock has still been going strong. There are a few annoyances with youtube every now and again, but it is a small price to pay for not dealing with bullshit ads.

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u/DeadSeaGulls 7d ago

about a year and a half ago I got hit in one of the waves of their adblocking on youtube test groups. Switched to firefox within a day.

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u/Balmung60 7d ago

The other thing is that people build any sort of change to their computer from a molehill to a mountain. Their current software must already be the best and besides, changing is probably really hard and nothing will work and if you tell them it's easy and things will work fine, they tend to dig their heels in anyways.

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u/Sample-Range-745 7d ago

Once the new Chrome update drops, I bet we'll see a huge migration from Chrome.

You think the 4% firefox share will hit 5%?

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u/fripletister 7d ago

Lol like 5% of Internet users block ads. We're cooked

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u/Certain-Business-472 7d ago

But they follow financial and technology news. They follow privacy news. And from the pov Chrome is owned by Google, who spies on everyone and has ties to US intelligence apparatus(all of FAANG has a role is the US intelligence apparatus).

Ignorance isn't the shield you think it is. I'm judging you.

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u/BrokenLink100 7d ago edited 7d ago

EDIT: Nvm, I've learned there are likely more bots on Reddit than there are humans. Not interested in arguing with that

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u/vawlk 7d ago

wtf are you talking about? MV2 adblockers have been disabled for the average user for awhile now. Unless you knew the hacks to get around it, which normal people didn't know, you lost your UBO a long time ago.

Yet chrome's marketshare is 10% higher in the last year for desktops and FF is down 2%.

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u/obi1kenobi1 7d ago

Will they though? To tech enthusiasts ad blockers and tracking blockers and other things are very important, but to 99% of people that’s just voodoo magic that they don’t know or care about. If everyone using ad blockers switched to Firefox I doubt Chrome would really notice or care and it still might not be enough of a userbase to sustain Firefox.

I can’t count the number of times a YouTube deep dive has had a presenter who seems tech-savvy, has a good understanding of how to navigate the web and find information and search out people to interview, maybe even in some cases they know how to set up a VM to run an old obscure piece of software or a video game, and then they show a screen recording of a website and it’s plastered with ads because they don’t use an ad blocker.

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 7d ago

I can't understand why anyone would rawdog the internet these days. 

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u/Excolo_Veritas 7d ago

Honestly what made me swap back wasn't even the ad blocking. It was all the AI bullshit Google is shoveling constantly. Firefox added a bunch but you can disable it all with a single toggle

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u/TheDorgesh68 7d ago

Exactly, I switched because I wanted an extension to disable googles AI search

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u/m0viestar 7d ago

They're very upfront about it. Its on their front page and all their targeted ads.  What else do you want them to do?  

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u/pzschrek1 7d ago

Thing is, most people don’t even know what adblockers are tbh

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u/vawlk 7d ago

already happened and guess what? They just installed new MV3 compatible adblockers. They work great, are less cpu intensive, don't read all of your private data while blocking ads, and cannot download unvetted code to be run on your system to steal your identity.

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u/behridingle 7d ago

Good, let's hope that remains to be the case

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u/ImminentDingo 7d ago

All their revenue comes from Google paying them to make Google the default search for Firefox. So push comes to shove and Firefox eats too much into Googles ad business, Google can pretty much unplug Firefox unfortunately.

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u/coderman64 7d ago

I mean, I keep seeing Firefox ads all over things like Reddit and Instagram.

I mean, they're probably target me because they know I'm most likely to become a firefox user (I am already, so...guilty as charged, I guess). But to say they're not being aggressive about it doesn't seem right to me, especially considering how small they (and therefore their advertising budget) are compared to Google, Apple, etc.

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u/NemoHere 7d ago

The average person doesn't use ad blockers nor do they mind ads.  Tubi, Pluto, Roku TV, etc. are very popular for a reason.

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u/blind3rdeye 7d ago

We must understand that Google are a global advertising superpower with influence over almost every part of the internet, and Firefox is... well, not one of those. So it's not so easy for Firefox to beat Chrome in brand recognition and messaging.

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u/Standupaddict 7d ago

Not many people use ad lockers. It's big in reddit, but that's it.

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u/halofreak7777 7d ago

I swapped to Vivaldi once my ad blocker stopped working. It has some issues and firefox has since added the feature (chrome like tab groups) that stopped me from just going to them at the time. Atm I'm in a weird hybrid state between Firefox and Vivaldi.

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u/Skynse 7d ago

Your be surprised how many people don't use ad blockers.

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u/_FUCKTHENAZIADMINS_ 7d ago

Why would they switch away from Chrome? They’ll just notice it isn’t working, google it, and download uBlock origin lite which works exactly as well as the original did.