For the first phase of Contextual Feature Recommender (CFR) system Firefox to suggest useful add-ons, once ready, this could run as Shield Study where recommendations to install extension will be shown to a subset of users.
Mozilla wants users to know Firefox Features and extensions that can be useful to them via recommendations. Currently, the plan is limited to recommending extensions only, Firefox features could be suggested later in the next phase.
What is Contextual Feature Recommender?
“(Contextual Feature Recommendation) CFR is a system that proactively delivers personalized Firefox feature and extension recommendations to users based on their behavior. ”
“This allows us to find and recommend features and extensions that we know will offer value to the user, hopefully making the browser more sticky, and more personal, allowing everyone to experience the best browser for the way consume the internet, “ says Firefox UX designer Sevaan Franks.
How does it work?
With the new contextual feature recommendations in place, when you visit a website, if Firefox finds an opportunity to show a recommendation for that website, an extension icon will appear in the address bar, which when clicked, shows a door-hanger notification that allows the user to install the extension.
- CFR extension button will be visible while the page is loading, but its animation will only appear one sec after the page is loaded.
- CFR button automatically minimizes to an icon after being open for 5 seconds.
For instance, when you visit Amazon website, Firefox recommends installing Amazon Assistant extension, which you can avoid if not interested by clicking Not Now.
Update: Add-on recommendations feature is not enabled by default, can be tested by changing the preference value browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.asrouterExperimentEnabled to true.
Do note this is different from Recommendations Get add-ons page shows in Add-ons manager.
Opt-out of Firefox Personalized Add-on Recommendations in Add-ons Manager
What’s your take on this feature?
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