1849728 - After clicking certain Sponsored link results the "target": "non_ads_link" is registered in the serp glean telemetry

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: Address Bar, defect, P2)

Description

[Contact team at [e-mail]]

Attachment: non_ads_link.mp4

[Notes]:

• We didn't manage to reproduce this issue on the latest Firefox Release 116.0.3 and on the latest Firefox Beta 117.0b9 build. But we managed to reproduce the issue on Nightly 116.0a1 build from June 7th. Considering this we didn't manage to search for a regression range. Probably the issue is only reproducible on the Nightly builds.
• The issue is reproducible with Sponsored links from ad_carousel or normal Sponsored links results.

[Affected versions]:

• Firefox Nightly 116.0a1 build from June 7th
• Firefox Nightly 118.0a1 - Build ID: 20230821213322

[Affected Platforms]:

• Windows 10 x64
• macOS 13.4.1
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

[Prerequisites]:

• Have Firefox Nightly 118.0a1 installed.

[Steps to reproduce]:

1. Open the browser from the prerequisites.
2. Navigate to “about:glean” and create a debug tag.
3. Select from the drop-down list “events” and click on “Apply settings and submit ping.”
4. Open a new tab and search in urlbar for “hotels”
5. Click on the sponsored link for “http://www.booking.com”
6. Go to “https://debug-ping-preview.firebaseapp.com/” and select the previous debug tag.
7. Click on “Details” from the previous ping event.
8. Notice the target.

[Expected result]:

• A target “ad_link” is registered in the serp glean telemetry.

[Actual result]:

• The "target": "non_ads_link" is registered in the serp glean telemetry.

[Additional Notes]:

• Attached is a screen recording of the issue.

Comment 1

[James Teow [:jteow]]

I think it’s because query parameter striping (preference: privacy.query_stripping.enabled) is enabled only on Nightly. Strange that we didn't encounter this bug earlier during testing when we were adding the telemetry.

What the aforementioned pref does is remove certain query parameters from being contained in the link after a user clicks on a link to avoid tracking. This unfortunately currently affects our heuristic of matching a clicked link to the list of links with ad types.

What we can do is add more resiliency in the similarity check of links by not being reliant on the ordering of query parameters.

Comment 2

[James Teow [:jteow]]

Attachment: Bug 1849728 - Compare URLs in page to the URL being visited in the network process - r?standard8

Comment 3

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

The following patch is waiting for review from an inactive reviewer:

ID	Title	Author	Reviewer Status
D186681	Bug 1849728 - Compare URLs in page to the URL being visited in the network process - r?standard8	jteow	Standard8: Back Sep 4, 2023

:jteow, could you please find another reviewer?

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.

Comment 4

[James Teow [:jteow]]

I'd prefer to keep :standard8 as the reviewer and wait.

Comment 5

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/8a4e53e901b6
Compare URLs in page to the URL being visited in the network process - r=Standard8

Comment 6

[James Teow [:jteow]]

Cristian, since this bug affects the new SERP telemetry (specifically, in Nightly but the fix would eventually also affect Release), would you (or someone on your team) be able to verify the fix? Thank you.

Comment 7

[Cristina Horotan [:chorotan]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/8a4e53e901b6

Comment 8

[Cristian Baica [:cbaica], Release Desktop QA]

The issue is verified fixed using the latest Fx 119.0a1 on Windows 10, Ubuntu 20 and macOS. Ad links are no longer treated as 'non_ads_link' regardless of the section clicked (carousel, ad_link, sidebar).

Comment 9

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

The patch landed in nightly and beta is affected.
:jteow, is this bug important enough to require an uplift?

• If yes, please nominate the patch for beta approval.
• If no, please set status-firefox118 to wontfix.

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.

Comment 10

[James Teow [:jteow]]

I don't think this requires an uplift as the issue is specific to Nightly.