1677232 - URI count should only include user-initiated page loads

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: General, defect, P3)

Description

[Micah [:mtigley] (she/her)]

The total_uri_count and total_uri_count_normal_and_private_mode (Bug 1535169) probes can also include page loads that might occur in background or minimized tabs. This causes the numbers to be inaccurate and we would ideally like to count URIs initiated by the user.

There are also questions around what we would consider user-initiated. After discussing this briefly with mconley:

We can, for example, detect if the user has typed into the URL bar and pressed enter. I believe we can also tell if the user has clicked on a link to cause a navigation.
But what if the user clicks on a button that runs script that causes a navigation? Does that count as user initiated, since a script did it?

This issue should look at discussing if we need to update the existing probes or add new ones to account for the overcounting.

Comment 1

[Sam Foster [:sfoster] (he/him)]

:mitgley, Can you or mconley give this a priority and severity please? (And confirm that Firefox::General is the correct component).

Comment 2

[Micah [:mtigley] (she/her)]

(In reply to Sam Foster [:sfoster] (he/him) from comment #1)

:mitgley, Can you or mconley give this a priority and severity please? (And confirm that Firefox::General is the correct component).

Since this is a follow-up on Bug 1535169, which is also using the Firefox::General component, I believe this is the correct one. Let me know if there is a better place for this though.

Comment 3

[Micah [:mtigley] (she/her)]

:tdsmith the total_uri_count probe is currently overcounting URIs (as mentioned in comment 0). Should we be updating the existing probes or creating new ones to account for the overcounting?

Comment 4

[Tim Smith (inactive) 👨‍🔬 [:tdsmith]]

Thanks for asking. total_uri_count is an older probe with some expectations accreted around it so making new probes sounds like the right direction to me.

Comment 5

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

The Bugbug bot thinks this bug should belong to the 'Firefox::Address Bar' component, and is moving the bug to that component. Please revert this change in case you think the bot is wrong.