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Ubuntu Moves To Yahoo For Default Firefox Search

Posted by kdawson on from the can-you-say-bing dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Starting in Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx release, Firefox's default search engine will be switched from Google to Yahoo. The switch was made after Canonical 'negotiated a revenue sharing deal with Yahoo.' Google will still be available as a choice. Since Yahoo search is now powered by Microsoft's Bing, this would seem to mean that Microsoft will be paying people for using Ubuntu."

1 of 370 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Even More Money by sopssa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And if one uses Bing Cashback, one is being paid by Microsoft to use Ubuntu and giving them money to shop online using it, perhaps to buy a Linux-friendly netbook and the cycle continues.

    Actually, in neither case is Microsoft actually paying anything.

    With Bing Cashback, what users are paid are covered by affiliate commissions send to Microsoft from the participating sites.
    With paying Ubuntu, Yahoo/Microsoft is actually paying Ubuntu a share from ad clicks.

    In both cases Microsoft isn't losing anything. Actually, they're generating more revenue.