that's typically what i do but on desktop i turn off search too since a) i use the awesomebar primarily and b) my ntp is a background and i'd rather see that for a cleaner look :)

You should be able to turn off "web search" too if you go to the page mentioned in the parent comment.

(Note the Edit icon in the corner of the homepage does not give you all the options. It used to let you turn off sponsored content, but Mozilla removed that a couple versions ago.)