While Mozilla had taken a significant market share in the web browser world when it was launched more than 20 years ago, on September 23, 2002, the project is now threatened with collapse.
Indeed, the Firefox web browser is essentially based on the Mozilla Foundation, whose economic model has often been questioned for its open-source philosophy.
With the advent of certain browsers like Google Chrome, which could soon be acquired by OpenAI, 30% of licensed effects in 2024, and team restructuring, Mozilla seems to see all its projects dying a slow death... including Firefox?
A very worrying financial report...
Although the agreement between Mozilla and Google for the latter to be the default search engine has been in place since 2006, the amounts communicated until now were still little known to the general public.
Nevertheless, as we read in the latest Mozilla's financial report for the year 2024, the figures are significant enough to understand that Mozilla's survival depends on this agreement. According to data shared by the Mozilla Foundation, Google would pay approximately $400 to $450 million each year to remain the default search engine for Firefox.
Is the end of a monopoly coming for Google?
In May 2024, as part of the antitrust lawsuit, a federal judge in the United States had ruled that Google had a monopoly in the world of search. Unfortunately, this decision could be the downfall of the Mozilla Foundation.
Indeed, the United States Department of Justice, following this verdict, could order Google to no longer be allowed to pay to be the default search engine for Firefox. In comments reported by The Verge, according to Eric Muhlheim, one of the leaders of the Mozilla Foundation, this could be a "scary" decision if a court enforces this verdict...
90% of Mozilla's revenue depends on Firefox
To better understand the concern of Mozilla's CFO, it is worth looking at the products published by the foundation. According to figures from Mozilla's latest financial report, Firefox currently represents 90% of the organization's revenue, 85% of which comes from the agreement with Google.
In 2014, Mozilla had already tried to distance itself from Google, particularly by partnering with Yahoo!, but the results were not up to par, including for users who decided to abandon Firefox. If Mozilla does not find a new investor to replace Google soon, this could be its death warrant...
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