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Mozilla missed the opportunity to regain some of their authentic voice with this announcement. “This is part of our ongoing search strategy, announced in 2014

Mozilla missed the opportunity to regain some of their authentic voice with this announcement. “This is part of our ongoing search strategy, announced in 2014 to evaluate and select the best search experience in each region as opposed to having a single global default.” is revisionist. I worked on a competing browser, Flock, in 2005 and Mozilla already had a strong and wonderful commitment to use the (local) best search engine for Firefox in a region. When they switched to “Yahoo!” without additional transparency about the economic factor it made it easier for me to use Chrome without feeling moral regret. With the exception of this blog post / announcement I’m really excited overall to see Mozilla back in the game.

ocdtrekkie 9y ago
There was never any real commitment to the "best" search engine in a region. Mozilla has been paid by Google to be the default search since 2004.
- icebraining 9y ago
  I'd say they're using the best for the financial viability of Mozilla. Which in turn is for the best of their users.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    I don't disagree. But that doesn't change the fact that the parent post's idea that they "choose the best search engine" is completely false. Mozilla has been paid for search settings consistently since 2004.
    - lloydde 9y ago
      The feedback in the responses leads me to believe my ear may have been too close to the loudspeaker, but here is a quote attributed to Mozilla Marketing leader Asa Dotzler in 2009: “Firefox users have their choice of several built-in and popular search services including Google’s number 1 competitor and the second most popular, Yahoo!. Google is the default for most Firefox locales because it’s the best search service available for the largest number of Firefox users (and was years before there was any revenue associated with default status).” https://searchengineland.com/will-bing-finally-be-admitted-into-the-firefox-club-31679 https://searchengineland.com/will-bing-finally-be-admitted-i... I also think I remember Firefox’s default search engine in Japan regularly being used as an example of doing right by users.
- dralley 9y ago
  Both Bing and Yahoo have been the default search between now and then too...
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    I don't think Bing has ever been the default search on Firefox. Google paid for the spot from 2004-2014, and Yahoo paid for it between 2014-2017. Google is almost certainly paying for the spot again now. At least here in the US, Bing has never been the default as far as I know.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- bzbarsky 9y ago
  How do you reconcile your claim with the fact that Yandex has been the default search engine in the Russian localization of Firefox for years?
  - Tinyyy 9y ago
    Google paid Mozilla to be the default search engine in the United States.
    - bzbarsky 9y ago
      Google used to be the default search engine in Russia too (though I can't comment on whether they were paying for that). When it became clear that Yandex generally delivered better search results for queries in Russian, Mozilla switched to Yandex.
      - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
        Are you 100% sure Yandex has not provided any funding to Mozilla? "Following our review in 2014, Google remained the default provider outside the US, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, China, and other regions where we had search agreements."
        bzbarsky 9y ago
        > Are you 100% sure Yandex has not provided any funding to Mozilla? I am 100% sure it has. But the point is that all search engines are willing to create these funding deals, so that leaves the freedom to pick the ones that you think are best for users.
        ocdtrekkie 9y ago
        The more accurate understanding is: All search engines are willing to create these funding deals, so you pick the biggest cash offer.
bobajeff 9y ago
The deal before the Yahoo one made Google the default everywhere (even China and Russia and other places where Google wasn't the best search engine). I don't work there so I don't know if they could've gotten the same amount that Yahoo agreed to without continuing to make Google default in all localities.

ocdtrekkie 9y ago

There was never any real commitment to the "best" search engine in a region. Mozilla has been paid by Google to be the default search since 2004.

icebraining 9y ago
I'd say they're using the best for the financial viability of Mozilla. Which in turn is for the best of their users.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  I don't disagree. But that doesn't change the fact that the parent post's idea that they "choose the best search engine" is completely false. Mozilla has been paid for search settings consistently since 2004.
  - lloydde 9y ago
    The feedback in the responses leads me to believe my ear may have been too close to the loudspeaker, but here is a quote attributed to Mozilla Marketing leader Asa Dotzler in 2009: “Firefox users have their choice of several built-in and popular search services including Google’s number 1 competitor and the second most popular, Yahoo!. Google is the default for most Firefox locales because it’s the best search service available for the largest number of Firefox users (and was years before there was any revenue associated with default status).” https://searchengineland.com/will-bing-finally-be-admitted-into-the-firefox-club-31679 https://searchengineland.com/will-bing-finally-be-admitted-i... I also think I remember Firefox’s default search engine in Japan regularly being used as an example of doing right by users.
dralley 9y ago
Both Bing and Yahoo have been the default search between now and then too...
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  I don't think Bing has ever been the default search on Firefox. Google paid for the spot from 2004-2014, and Yahoo paid for it between 2014-2017. Google is almost certainly paying for the spot again now. At least here in the US, Bing has never been the default as far as I know.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
bzbarsky 9y ago
How do you reconcile your claim with the fact that Yandex has been the default search engine in the Russian localization of Firefox for years?
- Tinyyy 9y ago
  Google paid Mozilla to be the default search engine in the United States.
  - bzbarsky 9y ago
    Google used to be the default search engine in Russia too (though I can't comment on whether they were paying for that). When it became clear that Yandex generally delivered better search results for queries in Russian, Mozilla switched to Yandex.
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      Are you 100% sure Yandex has not provided any funding to Mozilla? "Following our review in 2014, Google remained the default provider outside the US, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, China, and other regions where we had search agreements."
      - bzbarsky 9y ago
        > Are you 100% sure Yandex has not provided any funding to Mozilla? I am 100% sure it has. But the point is that all search engines are willing to create these funding deals, so that leaves the freedom to pick the ones that you think are best for users.
        ocdtrekkie 9y ago
        The more accurate understanding is: All search engines are willing to create these funding deals, so you pick the biggest cash offer.

bobajeff 9y ago

The deal before the Yahoo one made Google the default everywhere (even China and Russia and other places where Google wasn't the best search engine). I don't work there so I don't know if they could've gotten the same amount that Yahoo agreed to without continuing to make Google default in all localities.