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topicnews · September 1, 2024

Mozilla Firefox: Google single-handedly finances rival browser – this could soon be over (Opinion)

Mozilla Firefox: Google single-handedly finances rival browser – this could soon be over (Opinion)




Google

Google spends billions of dollars a year on its position as the standard search engine, which is transferred to a wide variety of companies – including the team at Mozilla FirefoxHowever, this deal has been on the rocks for some time and could be jeopardized by the recent ruling against Google’s illegal monopoly. And then?


Mozilla Firefox: Google single-handedly finances rival browser – this could soon be over (Opinion)

Google now pays around 30 billion dollars a year to be able to provide the default search engine on all relevant devices and platforms. The lion’s share of these payments goes to Apple, another large chunk to Samsung and large sums to many smartphone manufacturers. But Google also has a long-standing partner on the desktop who pays a little more than 500 million dollars per year receives.

Although the $500 million is a relatively small amount compared to the more than $20 billion Apple paid, it plays a very important role for both sides. Despite its market share declining for years, Firefox is still a relevant browser alongside Google Chrome, Edge and Safari. The default browser in Google Chrome is clear, Google also pays for Safari and Microsoft will probably not swap Bing for Google for Edge for any amount of money in the world.

What does Google pay for anyway?
There have been discussions about these payments for years, from several perspectives. Firefox users can be divided into two groups: those who avoid Google and change their default search engine to DDG or Ecosia anyway, and are thus lost to Google. Or the other group, who only use Google regardless of the default search engine and also change their default search engine. Hence the question: Why should Google pay?

Mozilla needs Google
On the other hand, there is Mozilla, which generates around 600 million dollars in revenue per year – over 500 million of which comes from Google. If Google payments are stopped, countless Mozilla projects and perhaps Firefox will go out of business. The space would certainly be put out to tender again – but could Google take over? With the exception of Bing, there is no other financially strong search engine. And I would not agree that Microsoft and Mozilla could be in the same boat.

Could Google sacrifice Mozilla?
The recent ruling against Google for illegal monopoly will keep the company busy for years to come and is all about such payments. Mainly because of the size and the money flowing in practically all directions. But as long as it is possible, Google will not stop them. Apple users are far too important for that. With Android, Google finances the entire ecosystem and could weaken it as a result.

That leaves only Mozilla, which is not absolutely needed and could perhaps be the first to be cut off from the flow of money as a sign of goodwill. That would not change the monopoly accusation, but it could buy Google several years and also require a reassessment of the legal situation by all parties. Whatever happens, Mozilla has not managed to become more independent of Google’s money in two decades and it is unlikely that this will change in the next one or two years…

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