this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2024
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93
Firefox DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials Extension NOT injecting CSS for Google Ads (addons.mozilla.org)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
17 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

My questions are:

  • Does the DuckDuckGo Firefox extension "Privacy Essentials" add a local css file to every visited site?
  • Can others reproduce this?
  • Is this harmfull or not?

Background:

I have a simple static one page site with just one html and css file. It's completely tracker free. Debugging it a bit with developer mode (F12) on I discovered a second css file. This file isnt on my webserver but added local. To pinpoint what caused this I removed every add-on / extension in my browser one by one, reloading and checking my website every time. Took me a while because didnt expect this one causing it.

To reproduce:

  • Install the extension from the link.
  • Open a random site
  • Check in developer mode the tab Style editor.
  • Scroll and look for a file named %3Ais(%5Bid*%3D'google_ads_iframe'%5D%.css or something like that.
  • Remove the extension and refresh.
  • Check if the file disappears.

Content of the css file: :is([id*='google_ads_iframe'], [id*='taboola-'], .taboolaHeight, .taboola-placeholder, #credential_picker_container, #credentials-picker-container, #credential_picker_iframe, [id*='google-one-tap-iframe'], #google-one-tap-popup-container, .google-one-tap-modal-div, #amp_floatingAdDiv, #ez-content-blocker-container) { display:none!important; min-height:0!important; height:0!important; }

Edit 25-03-2024: Changed title to not give the wrong impression. See comments below.

top 17 comments
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[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago

I dont use the extension, but I saw a CAPTCHA on ddg for the first time the other day. I'm not a bot, but why would it even matter if I wrote a bot that used ddg?

Sigh, what's the best ddg alternative?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

Yeah DDG is kind of a placebo

[–] [email protected] -3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

So you didn’t even try to understand the css, did you?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago (2 children)

No I did try and since you're interested in my learning curve versus my personal effort: Since two weeks I learned css for the first time, hobby related and just about to start knowing about flexbox css grid float div and styling them.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago

Sorry for being so harsh, that’s totally fair!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Good luck. W3Schools is a great place to learn beginner stuff and for quick refreshers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I hate W3Schools and Geeksforgeeks, I have them blocked on my search lol

MDN all the way

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

W3Schools used to be terrible, but it's gotten better. MDN is still great, but it's very much a pure technical reference, not great learning material.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Well, when I was learning I didn't see any issue in using it. I also just learned they have a learning area

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

What is wrong with them? I have found the useful and there examples help me to learn more about context. I am not saying anything about MDN, it may just be superior, but I've rarely referenced it.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 7 months ago

This CSS hides all google widgets and ad frames. The parts in the parens are element selectors and the bottom part in curly braces are where it removes visibility and size

This is how DDG is accomplishing its privacy partly. Once googles ad scripts are blocked the items in these selectors are just blank and this is to remove that weird whitespace left behind.

[–] [email protected] 141 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

It is used to replace empty spaces left by Google Ads, more info here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/duckduckgo/comments/14r3vde/does_duckduckgo_privacy_essentials_firefox_uses/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

alt frontend if anyone wants

[–] [email protected] 54 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Oh thnx, I should search more around. 😁👍

Solid answers there.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You should edit the title because most people aren't going to click through and read, they're just going to assume the title is correct.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Fair point, done!

[–] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago

Without looking too much, I think it is to remove white spaces left behind by removing google ads.