adbar for Firefox

Opera's least popular feature comes to Firefox!

adbar displays Google ads related to pages you view. Because the ads are relevant, they are occasionally useful. When adbar isn't displaying ads from Google, it displays Firefox-related things such as silly Firefox slogans, ads for other Mozilla software, and requests for donations to the Mozilla Foundation.

In order to display relevant ads, adbar sends the URLs of pages you visit to Google. More on privacy.

Install adbar 0.3.1. Works in Firefox 0.9 through Firefox 2.

Screenshots

Default configuration: adbar is its own toolbar and shows 2 ads.

You can change the number or position of the ads by right-clicking any toolbar and selecting "Customize".

Google's ad selection is often interesting.

FAQ

What implications does adbar have for my privacy?

In order to display relevant ads, adbar sends the URLs of pages you visit to Google. Google AdSense then chooses ads to display based on the current URL.

adbar protects your privacy by not sending non-http URLs (e.g. URLs at secure sites) and URLs without dots in the hostname (localhost, some intranet URLs) to Google. adbar also removes query strings from URLs before sending the URLs to Google.

While Google guarantees some privacy for data collected from Opera users, that guarantee doesn't apply to adbar users.

Can I register and get rid of the ads?

Of course! Paypal $19 (51% cheaper than Opera!) to me or the Mozilla Foundation, then uninstall adbar using the Extension Manager in Firefox's Tools menu.

Who gets money?

adbar uses the "test" mode in Google AdSense, so advertisers don't pay Google and Google doesn't pay anyone.

Why doesn't anyone get money?

If adbar were to generate revenue from ad clickthroughs, it would violate the AdSense policy that disallows client software from showing the ads. While Google has made an exception for the free version of Opera, it did not respond when I asked for an exception for adbar.

What languages is adbar available in?

adbar itself is only in English, but it displays ads in the same language as pages you view. For example, if you visit a Klingon page, you'll get ads in Klingon.

When I visit porn sites, why do I get public service ads instead of ads for porn?

Good question.

Is adbar open-source?

adbar is quad-licensed under the MPL, GPL, LGPL, and MIT open-source licenses. Of these, the MIT license is the most liberal.

Is adbar included when I download Firefox?

No.

Changelog

adbar 0.3.1 (2004-10-12)

• Fix a dumb regression that prevented ads from appearing.

adbar 0.3 (2004-10-09)

• Handle relative URLs in ad-target links. (Previous versions no longer work due a change Google made.)

adbar 0.2 (2004-08-19)

• Only request ads from Google if at least one ad is visible on the toolbar.
• Fix appearance of ads in Customize Toolbars.

adbar 0.1.5 (2004-08-15)

• First public version.

Media

Slashdot: Not Enough Ads? Install Adbar.

adbar on addons.mozilla.org (includes user comments)

Known bugs

• If you hide Adbar using View > Toolbars > Adbar and then re-show it, it shows the wrong ads until you switch tabs or navigate to another page.