1564304 - Firefox should not recommend add-ons that directly conflict with ones already installed (Facebook newalexndra vs. Facebook Mozilla)

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Data Platform and Tools :: General, defect)

Description

[Asif Youssuff]

Not sure how to reproduce.

I have https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container-newalexndra/ installed -- it is a fork of the Mozilla add-on that includes WhatsApp (why I use it).

When I visited my add-ons page in Nightly, I see a recommendation for https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/

This is unexpected, because these add-ons directly conflict, and may cause problems if both are installed at once.

Comment 1

[mlopatka]

Hello Asif Youssuff, thank you for the bug report.

I believe that the add-ons you are seeing on your recommendation page may be a set of "fall-back" recommendations that are surfaced when personalized recommendations can not be generated based on the available data. Facebook-container is one of the default recommendations when this is the case.

One way you can investigate this is to turn off personalized recommendations in your Firefox preferences, then restart your browser. If you navigate back to about:addons and see the same set of recommendations then it is likely that you are receiving the default recommendation set.

I do not think this is an issue with the TAAR service itself but rather the result of our editorial selection of the default recommended addon set.

Nonetheless, I do not think that it is necessarily a defect for the service to recommend https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/ if a client has https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container-newalexndra/ installed. I do appreciate that in your particular use case it is not a satisfying recommendation. However, there may be cases where a user would like to be made aware of the Mozilla developed facebook container addon, even if they have the newalexndra addon installed.

Thank you again for your bug report and your support of Mozilla!