Firefox is a very popular browser, and that is not surprising considering it works well on Apple, Windows and just about any smartphone platform.
Unfortunately, you will find some of the plug-ins that promise a lot, actually harm your SEO experience. Before you recommend them to your potential customers, you should make sure they are plug-ins you really need to use.
There are a number of plug-ins and ways to download batches of them that actually cause a huge slowdown in a user’s experience, and even worse, infiltrate a user’s computer so much they are harmful.
I have, on more than one ocassion, had to remove and reinstall Firefox because it was better to get that pesky malware out of my computer. Here is a look at some of those extensions and add-ons that could kill the browsing experience.
Batch Loaders: There are a number of batch loading tools for Firefox. I have found them to cause a huge amount of turmoil with the browser. If you want to add a plug-in, do it one by one.
Some of these batch loading 3rd party plug-ins just seem to never want stop updating and offering hundreds of plug-ins. This is where those nasty malware extensions can sneak in.
Don’t believe the hype that these 3rd party options will filter out and give you the most popular and best add-ons to make your experience better. You will just be busy dealing with the thing and trying to get rid off it, and what it is putting in your browser and harddrive.
Malware: Despite Firefox claiming it is a much safer browsing experience than Windows’ Internet Explorer, there are many plug-ins that slip through the screening process. You might have downloaded them before the alert was given out. Sothink Web Video Downloader was one of them.
The Trojan in this extension will hijack your PC. This happens more often than not. It is always important that you read other user’s comments and experience when downloading an extension, add-on, or plug-in.
Very Dangerous Malware: Although I keep mentioning Malware, it is important you understand the extent of the dangers associated. In the past, there have been Malware extensions that have taken all your saved passwords and sent that information to a rogue site.
No virus scanner will even be able to pick up on this kind of attack because all of that nasty stuff is written in the Javascript inside the extension.
Broken Extensions and More: Some extension will actually cause your browser to freeze, and may even cause your computer to crash. Just because an add-on or extension is popular, don’t think that it is right for you.
Again, it is important for you to research and read other users’ experience. Some extensions can conflict with others. Some extensions such as TrackMeNot, will do a lot of useless work in the background while you surf, such as creating a lot of random searches on search engines, so your searching activities cannot be tracked.
While this is not broken, it will eat up your bandwidth and slow down your surfing time down. If you are in Australia, and you are paying for bandwidth by the amount you use, you could run into some huge internet bills.
If you have a site, or you are recommending plug-ins for your site, it is important you think about your Search Engine Optimization, to make sure your site runs as smoothly as possible. It is actually better if you don’t have to get your users to do anything but enjoy the experience.
