Mozilla is running an experiment with a small group of Firefox users to sell VPN subscriptions within the browser itself. The confirmation came after an ad was spotted by some users in Firefox to buy a subscription to ProtonVPN. Mozilla has since acknowledged that the test is being conducted with a small number of users.
ZDNet spotted the test and Mozilla has now confirmed that it’s indeed pushing ads to sell ProtonVPN subscribers to some Firefox users. The company says that it has picked ProtonVPN for this test due to that provider’s data retention policies and overall transparency.
This ad will only be shown to select Firefox users in the United States who have the latest version of the browser installed on their desktop. If they’re eligible and browsing the internet on an unsecured network, the ad will pop-up in the top right corner of the Firefox window. Clicking on the ad will take them to a signup page for the VPN.
It’s offering ProtonVPN’s subscription for $10 per month which is the same as buying it directly from the provider. You can also buy an annual plan from ProtonVPN directly which brings the monthly cost down to $8. Much of the revenue that’s generated by this test will be pocketed by Mozilla. If Mozilla sees a good response to the test it may then think about expanding this to more of its users.
Filed in . Read more about Firefox and Mozilla. Source: blog.mozilla.org