10.04 Google start page fills my screen with ads

[Forest Bond]

Binary package hint: ubufox

It's not that I'm opposed to ads. It's just that I really kind of do want to see my search results. ;)

This screenshot says it all:

http://www.alittletooquiet.net/media/priv/google-fail.png

Here's a little conversation from #ubuntu-devel:

11:25 < fbond> I see a lot more ads at the top of the screen when I search using the 10.04
               Google start page than I do searching from the Google home page. The ads
               actually take up about 75% of my netbook's Firefox screen real estate. Does
               anyone know if this is this deliberate? I mostly just want to make sure
               folks are aware of it...
11:30 < fbond> (Specifically, if the intent is to drive revenue, the current situation
               might very well have the opposite effect. I find it much less usable than
               searching with the standard Google home page.)
11:33 < fbond> Maybe a screenshot is helpful:
               http://www.alittletooquiet.net/media/priv/google-fail.png
11:33 < fbond> Otherwise, sorry for the noise.
11:33 < persia> fbond: You may find that you get a more useful response by filing a bug.
                IRC has poor state tracking.
11:33 < fbond> persia: What do I file a bug against?
11:34 < fbond> This seems more like a Canonical business issue of some kind.
11:34 < persia> I *think* the bit that controls that is ubufox, but I might be wrong.
11:34 < fbond> persia: Seems like it would be server side...
11:35 < persia> fbond: Right, but the issue that *can* be reported as a bug is that the
                selected start page has usability issues. That the issue might happen to
                be with the server that provides that start page, or the configuration
                behind it is a matter of the implementation of the bugfix.
11:35 < fbond> persia: Okie dokie.
11:35 < persia> Otherwise, I can't suggest how to report it in a way that lets normal bug
                tracking tools be used.
11:36 < persia> fbond: Good luck. I'm sure it will get reassigned N times, but at least it
                can be discussed.
11:36 < ogra> fbond, did you try buying that lingerie ? probably it goes away then ;)
11:36 < fbond> ogra: Heh. I swear I was just after documentation. ;)
11:38 < fbond> Anyway, I thought Canonical would care about the threat to their revenue
               stream. My instinct was to just change my FF home page.
11:38 < fbond> But I'll file a bug. ;)
11:38 < persia> Canonical may care, but this isn't necessarily the best place to reach
                those who care.

[Micah Gersten (micahg)]

ubufox only points to the start page, but doesn't control it, so I created a task for the ubuntu-start-page project

[Daniel Polehn (dpolehn-gmail)]

if this is still an issue please change back to new but for now I am going to mark as invalid considering the last update to this was over a year ago.