This is a five-year deal in which Yahoo will launch a new search experience for Firefox users in the US while at the same time Firefox makes the switch away from Google.
According to techcrunch,
The Mozilla Foundation has long made most of its money through its search partnership with Google, which has always been the default in Firefox. Indeed, in 2012 — the last year we have data from — 88% of Mozilla’s income came from Google. That contract with Google was set to expire this year, though, and it look like either Yahoo made an offer Mozilla couldn’t refuse or Google decided to walk away from the deal.
Yahoo Search, in its current form, is powered by Microsoft Bing, of course, though the company heavily modifies the results it gets from Microsoft, both in terms of layout and ranking. There have long been rumors that Yahoo could end this deal and bring back its own search engine, but that seems unlikely given the investment the company would have to make after it dismantled its old search engine infrastructure.
This partnership with Firefox will surely give Yahoo — and Microsoft — a stronger presence in the search market, however. While Firefox usage has declined over the last few years, it still accounts for at least 15% of the U.S. browser market. Yahoo currently owns about 10% of the U.S. search engine market. Switching the default back to Google only takes a few seconds, but most users will likely stick with the default.
According to techcrunch,
The Mozilla Foundation has long made most of its money through its search partnership with Google, which has always been the default in Firefox. Indeed, in 2012 — the last year we have data from — 88% of Mozilla’s income came from Google. That contract with Google was set to expire this year, though, and it look like either Yahoo made an offer Mozilla couldn’t refuse or Google decided to walk away from the deal.
Yahoo Search, in its current form, is powered by Microsoft Bing, of course, though the company heavily modifies the results it gets from Microsoft, both in terms of layout and ranking. There have long been rumors that Yahoo could end this deal and bring back its own search engine, but that seems unlikely given the investment the company would have to make after it dismantled its old search engine infrastructure.
This partnership with Firefox will surely give Yahoo — and Microsoft — a stronger presence in the search market, however. While Firefox usage has declined over the last few years, it still accounts for at least 15% of the U.S. browser market. Yahoo currently owns about 10% of the U.S. search engine market. Switching the default back to Google only takes a few seconds, but most users will likely stick with the default.
