Latest revision as of 09:09, 29 April 2015

Content Services Overview

The Content Services Team was formed in late 2013 to explore opportunities that will provide additional value to our users, strongly align with our mission, and over time, generate new sources of diversified revenue.

The team works to make the web economically and socially sustainable. We want to sustain it economically, to ensure that the Web remains a place of economic opportunity for content creators. And we wish to make is socially sustainable, meaning that we wish to address the "maladies" that the advertising-supported content ecosystem has engendered on the Web, including:

poor user experience
widespread use of proprietary technology on the Web
ad fraud
lack of user control over data resulting in a loss of privacy

Our current mission is to provide in-browser promoted content experiences for advertisers who want better, higher-quality relationships with their audience and who choose Mozilla Content Services in order to have a future-facing, ethical partner with scale.

Product Guidelines

To achieve our mission, we build products that rely on users trusting Mozilla including code that is in Firefox and add-ons as well as our services. We want to earn trust by being transparent with our policies, processes, and open source code. While not a strict requirement for releasing a new product, we will try to build trust into code so that users do not have to rely on Mozilla services operating according to policy. If our services need to collect data, we intend to only use the minimal amount of data necessary to answer specific questions, and we will document the behaviors and communicate to users/community that this is happening. We will also build controls into the products to provide better user choice as well as an easy mechanism to turn things off.

Product Roadmaps

Directory Tiles

Every time a user opens up a new tab in Firefox, the browser displays Tiles. Frequent Firefox users see screenshots of the websites they visit most often in their Tiles. We look to leverage the Tiles on our New Tab pages and make them a source of revenue for Mozilla. There are a few opportunities that we began tests in market (first in pre-release channels) in 2014 and the first of which is to provide sponsored content on First-Run-Tiles known as Directory Tiles. This began testing in 2014 Q2/3. The successes here led to work on additional Tile enhancements outside of First-Run.

Suggested Tiles

For existing users with browsing history, we want to provide users valuable content of new places to visit. We provide Firefox with additional data that it uses to decide if a suggestion should be made on the New Tab page. For example, if a user tends to visit web development sites, we can make a suggestion to visit "Mozilla Developer Network."

UP/Intent Engine

UP is our Intent Engine for across Mozilla that helps us deliver personalization platforms for all of our products and services. Our 2014 strategy is to keep building our UP platform to make it available to the desktop, OS, services, and other products and have the bridges built this year that each product team has the ability to read/write to it. We will do limited tests in Q2/3/4 of this year to test different Intent Engine modules (such as tasks, discovery, personalization, ads). Within UP, we have a particular focus around Intentcasting and VRM.

Content Services Resources

Doc Searls' Intention Economy Book.

Check out our Official Content Services Blog.

Join our Interest mailing list ContentServices Distro

Reach out on email to the Content Services Team

Find us on IRC #mozcontent

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 = Content Services Overview  =
-We are applying more focus than ever before to the long-term sustainability of Mozilla.  That sounds like a fancy way of saying money, and maybe it is.  We want to be making an impact for the next 50 or 100 years, and need to hedge against the idea that desktop search will inevitably deteriorate and can’t be Mozilla’s permanent source of revenue to pursue our mission.
+The Content Services Team was formed in late 2013 to explore opportunities that will provide additional value to our users, strongly align with our mission, and over time, generate new sources of diversified revenue.
-The relationship between money and open source can be strained. But it shouldn't be. It's a tool in the toolbox; there's no need to be overly rigid about it. Participation in the commercial ecosystem is something that we believe is necessary; it's part of our manifesto.  We should be very attentive toward what we believe is the right thing to do, and continue having debates about it. But in the end, we need to remember the importance of ensuring Mozilla is sustainable for a very long time.
+The team works to make the web economically and socially sustainable.  We want to sustain it economically, to ensure that the Web remains a place of economic opportunity for content creators.  And we wish to make is socially sustainable, meaning that we wish to address the "maladies" that the advertising-supported content ecosystem has engendered on the Web, including:
+* poor user experience
+* widespread use of proprietary technology on the Web
+* ad fraud
+* lack of user control over data resulting in a loss of privacy
-The Content Services Team was formed in late 2013 to explore opportunities, over time, that would provide additional value to our users, strongly align with our mission and values, and propose new sources of revenue for Mozilla.
+Our current mission is to provide in-browser promoted content experiences for advertisers who want better, higher-quality relationships with their audience and who choose Mozilla Content Services in order to have a future-facing, ethical partner with scale.
-Our initial approach was to look for sites and brands to partner with who could provide our users with content that  on a regular basis.
+== Product Guidelines ==
-A group of Mozillians from the Steering Committee and Firefox team evaluated more than two dozen revenue proposals in late 2013. Each idea we considered was closely evaluated on whether it resulted in incremental value to our users, aligned with our mission and values, and had the potential to significantly impact our sustainability over time.
+To achieve our mission, we build products that rely on users trusting Mozilla including code that is in Firefox and add-ons as well as our services. We want to earn trust by being transparent with our policies, processes, and open source code. While not a strict requirement for releasing a new product, we will try to build trust into code so that users do not have to rely on Mozilla services operating according to policy. If our services need to collect data, we intend to only use the minimal amount of data necessary to answer specific questions, and we will document the behaviors and communicate to users/community that this is happening. We will also build controls into the products to provide better user choice as well as an easy mechanism to turn things off.
-Below are the initial projects we decided to pursue.
 == Product Roadmaps==
-===Directory Tiles===
+===[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Tiles Directory Tiles]===
-:Every time a user opens up a new tab in Firefox, the browser displays Tiles. Frequent Firefox users see screenshots of the websites they visit most often in their Tiles. We look to re-imagine what the Tiles can do on the tab pages. There are a few opportunities that we will test in the market in 2014 and the first of which is to provide sponsored content on First-Run-Tiles known as Directory Tiles. This should launch in Q2/3 and we will then work on additional Tile enhancements outside of First-Run.
+:Every time a user opens up a new tab in Firefox, the browser displays Tiles. Frequent Firefox users see screenshots of the websites they visit most often in their Tiles. We look to leverage the Tiles on our New Tab pages and make them a source of revenue for Mozilla. There are a few opportunities that we began tests in market (first in pre-release channels) in 2014 and the first of which is to provide sponsored content on First-Run-Tiles known as Directory Tiles. This began testing in 2014 Q2/3. The successes here led to work on additional Tile enhancements outside of First-Run.
-===Voices===
+===[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Tiles Suggested Tiles]===
-:We look to roll out a PBS/NPR style web-based video series about our Mozilla biased view of the world. This video series and associated content will go live weekly and be promoted across the Mozilla footprint. We will work with selected underwriters to sponsor this content to generate meaningful revenue.
+:For existing users with browsing history, we want to provide users valuable content of new places to visit. We provide Firefox with additional data that it uses to decide if a suggestion should be made on the New Tab page. For example, if a user tends to visit web development sites, we can make a suggestion to visit "Mozilla Developer Network."
-===UP/Intent Engine===
+===[https://intranet.mozilla.org/UP UP/Intent Engine]===
-:UP is our Intent Engine for across Mozilla that helps us deliver personalization platforms for all of our products and services. Our 2014 strategy is to keep building our UP platform to make it available to the desktop, OS, services, and other products and have the bridges built this year that each product team has the ability to read/write to it. We will do limited tests in Q2/3/4 of this year to test different Intent Engine modules (such as tasks, discovery, personalization, ads) to prioritize which modules we commercialize in 2015.
+:[https://intranet.mozilla.org/UP UP] is our Intent Engine for across Mozilla that helps us deliver personalization platforms for all of our products and services. Our 2014 strategy is to keep building our UP platform to make it available to the desktop, OS, services, and other products and have the bridges built this year that each product team has the ability to read/write to it. We will do limited tests in Q2/3/4 of this year to test different Intent Engine modules (such as tasks, discovery, personalization, ads).   Within UP, we have a particular focus around Intentcasting and VRM.
-==Content Services Roadmap==
+== Content Services Resources==
-<b>Q1 2014:</b> Grow Team - We’ll start by hiring a small team of paid staff who can dedicate the majority of their time thinking about how to develop and execute these initiatives. We’ll also look to grow support within the Mozillian community by exploring opportunities for participation and through regular dialog.
-<b>Q2 2014:</b> Directory Tiles Launch & Grow Team
-<b>Q3 2014:</b> Voices Soft Launch, Grow Team & UP testing
-<b>Q4 2014:</b> UP Testing, Voices Launch & Grow Team
-== Content Services Resources==
+Doc Searls' [http://www.amazon.com/The-Intention-Economy-Customers-Charge/dp/1422158527 Intention Economy Book.]
 Check out our [https://blog.mozilla.org/advancingcontent/ Official Content Services Blog.]
-Watch the Directory Tiles Town Hall on [https://air.mozilla.org/town-hall-directory-tiles/ AirMozilla.]
+Join our Interest mailing list [https://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/contentservices-distro ContentServices Distro]
-== Get Involved/Share Ideas & Feedback==
-If you’re interested in what we are doing,  we’d love for you to subscribe to our group and contribute to the discussions. We are also actively hiring, so if you’re interested in joining our team, check out Mozilla’s [https://careers.mozilla.org/en-US/ Career’s Page] for opportunities. We have lots to talk about in the coming weeks and months!
+Reach out on email to [mailto:contentservices@mozilla.com?Subject=Your%20Subject%20Here the Content Services Team]
-In the meantime, if you have anything to add, feel free to reach out to [mailto:contentservices@mozilla.com?Subject=Your%20Subject%20Here the Content Services Team]
+Find us on IRC  #mozcontent

Content services: Difference between revisions