Constant Blocks When Trying to Go from one Website to Another

[DRKT]

I have preferred to use Mozilla as my main browser for years but for the last year I have been frustrated with the constant blocks when I try to go from website or email to another website. For example, I get blocked when I try to go from an Amazon product to a "sponsored" product. I have tried to figure out how to stop this but without a high tech degree, the directions are cumbersome and meaningless. I have tried to apply the "fixes" you list online with no success. I am using other browsers more and more as a result and abandoning Mozilla much to my disappointment. You guys need to FIX whatever you have done to Mozilla that causes hundreds of people to now be in the same boat when they try to use Mozilla. Otherwise, you are going to continue to lose users as they go to browsers that actually WORK.

[dftf]

@DRKT : you're probably using an ad-blocker extension, like AdBlock, AdGuard, Ghostery, uBlock) which is causing these links to break.

Click the Firefox menu (three-lines icon), then Extensions and Themes, then Extensions.
What extensions do you have listed there?

Also check:
•  type about:preferences#etp into the URL bar, then press ENTER
Is that set to "Standard", or do you have it set to "Strict" or "Custom"?
•  type about:preferences#dnsOverHttps into the URL bar, then press ENTER.
Is that set to "Default", "Custom" or "Off"?

[DRKT]

Nope, checked my extensions.  I am not using any ad blockers. Only have 5 extensions none of which have anything to do with website operations.  I do use Norton 360 though so possibly that could be a problem. I don't use Norton Tracker. Did the checks you suggested above. Both set as you suggested. Problem still exists and is very annoying since I can't go to any "sponsored links." Firefox always says "can't connect to server at ... (website name.) My firewalls have been the same for several years now and worked before but not for the past year. Things changed after one of the updates either late last spring or early this current year. Edge and Chrome have no problem accessing other websites - only Firefox has this problem whenever I try to go from a link inside any website to another site. I did all the things suggested in this Mozilla support article - nothing fixed the problem. Have checked for malware often and nothing is reported when I scan my computer and I don't have any other problems with my computer. The only problem is with Mozilla Firefox.

[dftf]

It could be your Norton software, if it intercepts websites.  Maybe look at this articles:
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v20241205144613321 

You could also go type about:preferences#dnsOverHttps in the URL bar, then press
ENTER and check what is set there.  By-default, it'll be on "Default", but it's possible
Norton may have set it to "Custom" and then set its own DNS server address.  Try
changing the provider to Cloudflare or NextDNS and see if sites work again.

Lastly, if you open a "Troubleshoot Mode" window (Menu -> Help and Report ->
Troubleshoot Mode...) then do the links work there, or are they still blocked?

[lintaglenn]

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@DRKT wrote:

I have preferred to use Mozilla as my main browser for years but for the last year I have been frustrated with the constant blocks when I try to go from website or email to another website https://yttowav.io/. For example, I get blocked when I try to go from an Amazon product to a "sponsored" product. I have tried to figure out how to stop this but without a high tech degree, the directions are cumbersome and meaningless. I have tried to apply the "fixes" you list online with no success. I am using other browsers more and more as a result and abandoning Mozilla much to my disappointment. You guys need to FIX whatever you have done to Mozilla that causes hundreds of people to now be in the same boat when they try to use Mozilla. Otherwise, you are going to continue to lose users as they go to browsers that actually WORK.

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I also have the same question about why Firefox sometimes blocks or interrupts navigation when clicking links that should normally open another website. It is frustrating when you are browsing a shopping site, checking an email, or following a sponsored product link and suddenly cannot reach the destination as expected. I have always appreciated Firefox for its privacy features and overall browsing experience, but these repeated interruptions can make even simple tasks unnecessarily difficult. It is especially disappointing when the suggested troubleshooting steps are complicated and do not seem to resolve the problem.

[dftf]

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It is especially disappointing when the suggested troubleshooting steps are complicated and do not seem to resolve the problem.

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They're not that complicated!

In Firefox, just click the Menu (the icon of the three-lines, in the top-right area) then go to Help and Report then click "Troubleshoot Mode...".  In the new window that will open, try going to a page which has a link on it you know usually gets blocked, and see if it still is.

If it works fine, then an extension you use (such as an ad-blocker) is most-likely causing your usual issue.  You can use Menu -> Extensions and Themes -> Extensions to see which you've added.  Firefox ships with no extensions by-default; if you add any, it's your responsibility to be aware some of them will break web-browsing.

Try testing Troubleshoot Mode first and see if links work fine there; if yes, then check what extensions you use and see if disabling any helps.  Report back and let me know.  It would also be helpful to know what anti-virus software you use. (Windows' built-in one, with the white shield icon, never causes websites not to load, but many third-party ones, like Avast, AVG, Avira, BitDefender, Comodo, ESET, Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, McAfee, Norton 360 or Panda, can, if they have an option to filter websites. Again, it not really the responsibility of Mozilla or people here to assist with the security software you use on your PC, but people can try to help if you say which one you're using.)

[DRKT]

One other thing. As of the last couple of weeks since the last Firefox update, I now cannot go to the blocked website directly either. I type in the correct URL in the search box and am blocked again from the same website now that I tried to link to within a site like Amazon. I have to close Firefox and go to Edge or Chrome and I can successfully enter the URL of the website I want that Firefox has blocked. Still sounds to me like a Firefox problem since I can navigate to the blocked website from another browser. 

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