Mozilla appears to be planning to add an ad blocker to its mobile, privacy focused, Firefox Focus browser. Currently the browser already blocks advertisements with trackers, but the few advertisements that don't use tracking still show up in the browser.
With Firefox Focus, Mozilla aims to protect users against advertisements with trackers. This should prevent users from being followed by internet advertising companies. The browser currently blocks various Javascript trackers and tracking cookies. In the future the browser might also get a pre-installed ad blocker, German website Golem.de reports based on a bug report.
According to the bug report, Mozilla plans to test the use of ad blockers in an upcoming version of Firefox Focus. The version in which the new feature will be tested is scheduled for the 12th of February this year.
Mozilla will test the ad blocking feature for three weeks with an A/B test, which should generate metrics as daily user interaction and effects on load time of web pages. Such a testing is a commonly used method to test new features.
Although Firefox Focus currently blocks most advertisements with trackers, it's likely that in the new version no advertisements at all will be shown. The ad blocking technology will rely on blocking lists of Adguard, Fanboy and the Easylist.
