Why Firefox's Future Lies In Google's Hands

Barence writes "Firefox has just turned five, and it now accounts for 25% of the global market, according to figures from Net Applications. Its success has forced rivals to raise their game, and the past two years have seen Microsoft, Apple, and Opera close the features gap significantly. Google is the default homepage when Firefox first opens, and the default search engine when users type something into the 'awesome bar.' The deal, which runs until 2011, was worth $66 million to Mozilla in 2007, accounting for 88% of the foundation's revenues that year (the last year for which it had published accounts). But now that Google is a competitor as well as a partner, is it really wise for Mozilla to be so dependent on Google?"

Comments

Google will decide FF fate on my computers

[jgtg32a]

Firefox is not that good anymore, its running far too slow, and does a bunch of short lockups. Chrome finally added extensions, I'm just waiting for my must haves before I say good bye.
Xmarks is good to go, the adblock is about there(it apparently only hides adds not blocks, so eh), I'm just waiting on NoScript then I'm gone.

Privacy, and conflicts of interest

[H4x0r Jim Duggan]

I'm always worried that Firefox is making privacy too low a focus. Many of the privacy features I'd like would to see in Firefox would reduce the amount of data Google and other search engines gather about my WWW habits.

For as long as the Mozilla Foundation is financially dependent on Google, I presume that the Mozilla Foundation is betraying its users privacy in return for Google's money.

Being free software usually prevents projects from betraying their users, but this is a bizare case where those controls haven't worked.

(I know I can solve *my* problem by installing various plugins or changing browsers, but I'm not just looking for a quick fix for me, I'd like the privacy of my family and friends to be protected too.)