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Sponsored suggestions and shortcuts privacy in Waterfox

Waterfox may show occasional sponsored suggestions in the address bar and sponsored shortcuts on the New Tab page. This article explains what’s shown, how it works, and how to control it.

What sponsored suggestions are

Section titled “What sponsored suggestions are”
  • Address bar suggestions can include content from Waterfox and partners based on your search terms. Suggestions are designed to be useful and relevant.
  • Sponsored shortcuts on the New Tab page are tiles from partners that may appear among your Top Sites. You can remove or pin sites at any time.

Your privacy

Section titled “Your privacy”
  • Waterfox keeps your browsing activity on your device and does not sell your data. When sponsored suggestions are shown, they are based on your search terms and general location (derived from your IP) to deliver relevant results.
  • See Waterfox Suggest FAQ for details about data collection and controls specific to suggestions in the address bar.

Turn sponsored suggestions on or off

Section titled “Turn sponsored suggestions on or off”
  1. Address bar sponsored suggestions
  • Open Settings > Privacy & Security.
  • In the Address Bar and Waterfox Suggest sections, adjust the toggles for sponsored suggestions.
  1. New Tab sponsored shortcuts
  • Open a New Tab and click the gear icon to customize the page, or open Settings > Home.
  • In Shortcuts/Top Sites, uncheck “Sponsored” to hide sponsored shortcuts. You can also remove any individual tile using its menu.

Manage what appears in the address bar

Section titled “Manage what appears in the address bar”

Remove a sponsored item

Section titled “Remove a sponsored item”
  • From the address bar: use the three‑dot menu on a suggestion to dismiss it or adjust settings.
  • From New Tab shortcuts: click the three‑dot menu on the tile and choose Dismiss or Don’t show sponsored shortcuts.
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