I think people are implying that Google told Mozilla to drop Servo, to make sure Firefox wouldn't leapfrog Chrome. And since Google funds Mozilla almost entirely, Mozilla had to comply.
Almost no technical aspect of Firefox have anything to do with how much money Google pays them.
Mozilla is basically paid by Google to have a multi-platform non-Blink browser around they can point to when accused of being a monopoly.
Having a quality browser is not required, merely it existing. So why waste money on novel web engine experiments when you can have AI conferences in Zambia?
That's my point... The fewer people use Firefox, the less money they get from Google. If you follow the money, it doesn't make sense for them to neglect Firefox.
I think people are implying that Google told Mozilla to drop Servo, to make sure Firefox wouldn't leapfrog Chrome. And since Google funds Mozilla almost entirely, Mozilla had to comply.
Almost no technical aspect of Firefox have anything to do with how much money Google pays them.
Mozilla is basically paid by Google to have a multi-platform non-Blink browser around they can point to when accused of being a monopoly.
Having a quality browser is not required, merely it existing. So why waste money on novel web engine experiments when you can have AI conferences in Zambia?
Living large and loving life --- by selling out.
How do you think Firefox is making money, since it has no payed features? Hint: it has Google search as the default search engine.
That's my point... The fewer people use Firefox, the less money they get from Google. If you follow the money, it doesn't make sense for them to neglect Firefox.
> The fewer people use Firefox, the less money they get from Google
This is not reflected in the numbers, at least from what I've found: 300m/year in 2011[1], 400+m/year in 2020[2], 485m/year in 2025[3].
[1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/1543269/google-to-pay-...
[2] https://www.pcmag.com/news/mozilla-signs-lucrative-3-year-go...
[3] https://nerdschalk.com/85-of-mozillas-revenue-at-risk-firefo...
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Google does not need Mozilla to have a sizable market share. They just need it as a semblance of competition in the browser space.
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Tops make goods money as is. All they need to do is to keep Fx the way it is.
And Google won't be paying more if Firefox becomes something bigger than Chrome. Google has no interest in it. All they need is a spoiler effect.
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The fewer people use Firefox, the less money they get from Google.
You obviously haven't been following the money.
The statistical global marketshare of Firefox is very close to that of Internet Explorer --- within a single rounding digit.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-05/why-go...
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You’re the one who didn’t follow the money: they’ve made more from Google as their market share has decreased. Neat incentive, huh?
Nope it comes from Google.