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Pocket is giving me commercials intead of articles!

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I thought Pocket's articles were supposed to be non-commercial, if "Sponsored stories" is turned off in the settings?

And yet Pocket has just recommended a highly commercial link that's far removed from a genuine article, and reads exactly like an advert. (https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/leaving-netflix-september-2021-star-trek-enterprise)

This "article" basically just forcibly tells the reader "YOU NEED TO" sign up to the premium video website "Netflix", without any explanation of why. Patently, it was funded by whatever company owns Netflicks.

The article also makes the outrageous claim that the TV show in question is "the most controversial sci-fi show on Netflix", but completely fails to back this up with facts, or any explanation at all. It's clearly just marketing rhetoric to generate interest in the show, because the show in question (which is 20 years old) was notoriously bland, isn't even remotely controversial, no one is talking about it, and there is absolutely no logical reason to re-watch it right now.

The article also tries to give the impression that the only way to watch this 20-year-old TV show is to sign up to the premium website Netflicks and watch it on a computer screen - which is absurd given that the show is constantly syndicated on TV around the world, and readily available on all home formats including DVD and Blu-ray.

I would like to know how I can complain about this to Mozilla, because it isn't right at all. If by some chance, this article was non-commercial, it would be a truly terrible, dishonest, badly-written article which completely lacked a point or purpose. But it's so obviously commercial.

I found countless other disingenuous "articles" on that site, all doing a similar thing with other TV shows—driving commerce to Netflicks under the pretense of a false sense of urgency. Mozilla should have nothing to do with garbage like this.

I thought Pocket's articles were supposed to be non-commercial, if "Sponsored stories" is turned off in the settings? And yet Pocket has just recommended a highly commercial link that's far removed from a genuine article, and reads exactly like an advert. (https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/leaving-netflix-september-2021-star-trek-enterprise) This "article" basically just forcibly tells the reader "YOU NEED TO" sign up to the premium video website "Netflix", without any explanation of why. Patently, it was funded by whatever company owns Netflicks. The article also makes the outrageous claim that the TV show in question is "the most controversial sci-fi show on Netflix", but completely fails to back this up with facts, or any explanation at all. It's clearly just marketing rhetoric to generate interest in the show, because the show in question (which is 20 years old) was notoriously bland, isn't even remotely controversial, no one is talking about it, and there is absolutely no logical reason to re-watch it right now. The article also tries to give the impression that the only way to watch this 20-year-old TV show is to sign up to the premium website Netflicks and watch it on a computer screen - which is absurd given that the show is constantly syndicated on TV around the world, and readily available on all home formats including DVD and Blu-ray. I would like to know how I can complain about this to Mozilla, because it isn't right at all. If by some chance, this article was non-commercial, it would be a truly terrible, dishonest, badly-written article which completely lacked a point or purpose. But it's ''so obviously'' commercial. I found countless other disingenuous "articles" on that site, all doing a similar thing with other TV shows—driving commerce to Netflicks under the pretense of a false sense of urgency. Mozilla should have nothing to do with garbage like this.

Modified by MartyJames

All Replies (5)

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Hi

I recommend that you contact the Pocket support team directly at:

https://help.getpocket.com/contact

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Hmm, that article/publication doesn't appear in the 21 "Recommended by Pocket" articles on my new tab page.

Pocket Recommendations are drawn from stories that Pocket users save, and reflect their broad range of interests. Obviously not everyone is interested in the same "news" or "entertainment" content, as the case may be. Currently Firefox doesn't have a method for blocking specific unwanted sites from this section, and add-ons also cannot modify the built-in home page. You can always turn this section off if you find it more aggravating than helpful. There's a gear/cog wheel icon at the upper right of the new tab page to enable/disable various sections.

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Thank you both.

To clarify, I am only talking about the "Recommended by Pocket" stories on my new tab page. I leave this feature turned on as I generally find the articles moderately interesting (despite the fact that they're so politically slanted and 100% left-leaning, excluding half of America and indeed half the world).

Incidentally, I have never "saved" a story. I don't even understand what that means! If I want to save a page, I bookmark it. I don't need another way of doing that.

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Thank you for you feedback.

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MartyJames said

To clarify, I am only talking about the "Recommended by Pocket" stories on my new tab page.

Me, too.

Incidentally, I have never "saved" a story. I don't even understand what that means! If I want to save a page, I bookmark it. I don't need another way of doing that.

If I understand correctly, Pocket was originally designed to create a cross-platform reading list. It was especially popular with people who had a long commute and wanted to send web content to their mobile device to read on the train.