No Google, no Firefox? Firefox may disappear without Google search deal, Mozilla warns
In the wake of a landmark antitrust case in the US against Google, concerns are mounting over the potential consequences of proposed remedies aimed at curbing Google's dominance in the search engine market. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is pushing for a series of sweeping measures, including a possible forced sale of Google's Chrome browser. Responding to these developments, Google CEO Sundar Pichai warned that dismantling Chrome could effectively kill off Google Search in its current form. Now, Mozilla — the organisation behind Firefox — has voiced its own alarm, stating that it could be driven out of business if the court implements all the JoD's proposed restrictions.advertisement'It's very frightening,' said Mozilla's Chief Financial Officer Eric Muhlheim during testimony on Friday, as reported by The Verge. He explained that Firefox relies heavily on revenue from its partnership with Google, which pays to be the default search engine on the browser. This deal accounts for around 85 percent of Mozilla's income and roughly 90 percent of the revenue for its for-profit subsidiary, which supports the broader non-profit Mozilla Foundation.If this funding were to disappear, Mozilla would need to implement 'significant cuts across the company,' according to Muhlheim, including scaling back product engineering efforts for Firefox. He cautioned that these reductions could trigger a 'downward spiral,' diminishing the browser's appeal and potentially resulting in its collapse. Such an outcome would also jeopardise Mozilla's broader initiatives, including its development of open-source tools and projects focused on leveraging AI to address climate change.advertisement
He further argued that such a scenario would merely reinforce the very market dominance regulators aim to break up. He noted that Firefox's underlying Gecko engine is 'the only browser engine that is held not by Big Tech but by a nonprofit.' In contrast, the other leading engines — Google's Chromium and Apple's WebKit — are operated by tech giants. Mozilla originally created Gecko, he said, out of concern that Microsoft might monopolise internet protocols, and its development has played a crucial role in keeping the web open and interoperable. While cross-questioning, Judge Amit Mehta asked Muhlheim whether he agreed that Mozilla would benefit if there were at least one other company capable of matching Google's search quality and monetisation abilities. 'If we were suddenly in that world,' Muhlheim responded, 'that would be a world that would be better for Mozilla.'Even though many companies, like Yahoo, involved in the Google trial have expressed interest in acquiring Chrome, Firefox has not. Instead, Mozilla is sounding the alarm over the unintended consequences of a crackdown that, while targeting one monopoly, could end up stifling one of the last remaining independent players in the browser space.
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