I’ve long been a fan of the Opera Mobile browser. I used it back in my Nokia Symbian and Blackberry days – it was simply the best browser for those limited devices. I’ve carried on using it on my Android devices due to its superior text handling.

Last week I was scrolling through my bookmarks, when I found a curious addition – “Breaking News”.

I didn’t remember adding that bookmark. I suppose I might have done it by mistake…? Let’s take a look at where it goes.

Oh. An advert. Shoved into my bookmarks by Opera.

I use an adblocker, so I couldn’t see the content – but other people weren’t so lucky:

https://twitter.com/redmeld/status/799946371235074049

It goes to a South African based “shock news” site. No news – well, unless you consider “woman wears bikini” to be news.

I complained, but this was the non-apology that I got.

Hi, with new updates we sometimes add new bookmarks to the browser's speed dials. Better suggestions? Let us know 🙂 — Opera (@opera) November 24, 2016

Here’s a suggestion – don’t put adverts in people’s browsers! Seriously. You can’t release a browser which blocks obnoxious adverts and then engage in the same scummy behaviour.

Now that Opera has lost its most passionate advocates, I’m deeply concerned that it will continue down this dark path of user hostility.

I’m switching to Firefox for Android. I’ve found an extension which does text-wrapping properly and I’m happy to be back in the land of Open Source.

Goodbye Opera, I’ve loved you for so long – but it’s clear you don’t respect users any more.

Hello you Foxy thing!