The DOJ wants to bar Google from paying to be the default search engine in third-party browsers including Firefox, among a long list of other proposals including a forced sale of Google’s own Chrome browser and requiring it to syndicate search results to rivals. The court has already ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in search, partly thanks to exclusionary deals that make it the default engine on browsers and phones, depriving rivals of places to distribute their search engines and scale up. But while Firefox — whose CFO is testifying as Google presents its defense — competes directly with Chrome, it warns that losing the lucrative default payments from Google could threaten its existence.

Firefox makes up about 90 percent of Mozilla’s revenue, according to Muhlheim, the finance chief for the organization’s for-profit arm — which in turn helps fund the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation. About 85 percent of that revenue comes from its deal with Google, he added.

Losing that revenue all at once would mean Mozilla would have to make “significant cuts across the company,” Muhlheim testified, and warned of a “downward spiral” that could happen if the company had to scale back product engineering investments in Firefox, making it less attractive to users. That kind of spiral, he said, could “put Firefox out of business.” That could also mean less money for nonprofit efforts like open source web tools and an assessment of how AI can help fight climate change.

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    65
    ·
    edit-2
    21 hours ago

    As a daily Firefox user and someone who generally defends them, they have known this day was coming for a very long time. If they have not been planning for it, that’s their fault.

    • Ledericas@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      9 hours ago

      they got high off of the google supply, so to speak and became stagnant.what they should be working on is a independant browser, or look for more sources of ad revenue, than just goolge.

    • sanzky@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      20 hours ago

      while they have made a lot of dumb decisions, they are also in an almost impossible situation. every time they try to diversify their income they get hammered hard by the community.

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        18 hours ago

        i like how you make this sound like users are the ones at fault for not liking shitty things, how about mozilla tries earning money without making the world worse?

        • overload@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          12 hours ago

          The internet runs on either ads, data harvesting, donations or the goodwill of solo developers. Firefox cannot generate revenue with ads or data and currently gets money from donations via Google and other companies. Are you expecting goodwill?

          • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            11 hours ago

            Personally, I’m fine with Google giving money to Firefox to be the default search. Keeps my browser in business and I just change the search. I don’t see a problem here.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              5 hours ago

              Firefox is a way for them to make money for their charitable projects. Always has been.

              They’ve been opening secondary streams of income – also via Firefox, like pocket and stuff, but it’s unclear whether that would even allow them to keep developing Firefox. It certainly would mean that Mozilla doesn’t have any money left over to give to others which is their main purpose of existing.

              • tias@discuss.tchncs.de
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                8 hours ago

                I believe the Firefox development organization could be a lot leaner, and not all of the work has to be directly salaried. There are plenty of huge open source projects that are progressing fine without being run by a single for-profit company. E.g. the Apache ecosystem, the Linux foundation projects, FreeBSD, etc.

                • sanzky@beehaw.org
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  3 hours ago

                  I think that if that was feasible a successful project would exist already to develop it. it is not like people does not want it to exist. sure, there are tons of projects making variations of existing browsers but none of them do much besides minor tweaks.

                  From the top of my head Servo is the closest one and it has a big head start since mozilla developed originally. and that is just an engine, not a full browser.

                  • tias@discuss.tchncs.de
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    3 hours ago

                    I think such projects don’t exist precisely because Mozilla is still developing it. If Mozilla abandons Firefox then someone else will take up the torch.

          • piefood@feddit.online
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            11 hours ago

            Let me donate directly to Firefox development. Stop giving their terrible executives giant piles of money.