Firefox's NY Times Ad a Reality

Firefox's New York Times ad finally made it to the paper Thursday after several delays. The two page spread listed the 8,000 users who contributed to a fund for the creation and placement of the advertisement.

The ad had been delayed due to production issues, namely an incorrect setting in the software used to design it. Designers had to wait hours even after adding only one name to the list to allow the ad to fully render. The problem was fixed through the weekend allowing the organization to finish the ad, although two weeks later than hoped.

Christopher Messina, volunteer leader for Spread Firefox, the upstart browser's promotion arm, was the ad's chief designer. "What we have accomplished so far is nothing short of incredible -- and I know full well that this is only the beginning," Messina wrote on Spread Firefox's blog Thursday.

Colin Crook, spokesperson for Mozilla, called the ad a major milestone for the Firefox movement. "The NY Times ad shows that there are millions of people using Firefox today," Crook told BetaNews. "The Firefox web browser is in the mainstream and it's great to see."

Crook said Mozilla has no plans to place future advertisements at this time.