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Did anyone find anything in this post about Mozilla refusing to take money from Google? I can’t find it. Mozilla, stop taking money from Google and letting th

Did anyone find anything in this post about Mozilla refusing to take money from Google? I can’t find it. Mozilla, stop taking money from Google and letting them be the default search engine! Please don’t enable and legitimise surveillance capitalism.

kgraves 6y ago
Thanks for the downvotes, I know you don't like the facts, but here they are: > Today, the majority of Mozilla Corporation revenue is generated from global browser search partnerships, including the deal negotiated with Google in 2017 following Mozilla’s termination of its search agreement with Yahoo/Oath (which was the subject of litigation the parties resolved in 2019.) [0] [1] [2] [0] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/2018/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/2018/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#Google [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/11/30/mozillas-money-latest-filings-include-a-few-surprises/#367ac6844222 https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/11/30/mozilla...
soundnote 6y ago
To do that now would be financial suicide. They have several new services, if they manage to get revenue from them they could survive cutting Google. But not before.
- shock 6y ago
  I present to you the Debian Foundation as a counter example. I posit they are surviving just fine without a contract with Google.
  - staktrace 6y ago
    The Debian Foundation also doesn't have to compete against Google on a product that costs millions of dollars to build and maintain, and that Google throws billions at in marketing.
    - shock 6y ago
      At various levels it has to compete against Redhat/IBM, Microsoft and other Dekstop and Server OS vendors.
    - regularfry 6y ago
      Interesting comparison: they do compete against Red Hat, and thus IBM, who I could well believe do spend billions on marketing in the same space.
- kgraves 6y ago
  > They have several new services, Please name these revenue generating services from Mozilla.
  - Yoric 6y ago
    From the top of my head, Firefox VPN and Pocket.
    - kgraves 6y ago
      What is more disappointing is this is what they have to show for after years of funding from Google. I get that they have to build a browser but come on. Is that it?
Yoric 6y ago
So what you're saying is... since Mozilla has cash difficulties, let's get rid of the main income source? Or am I misunderstanding?
- kgraves 6y ago
  YES I wouldn't do a deal with the devil that is also competing with you. Especially in the name of privacy.
- rleigh 6y ago
  Being beholden to your main competitor is a losing strategy. It's made them a lot of money in the short term to lose it all in the longer term. It's easy to comment on this in retrospect, but I personally think they should have considered this more seriously before making a deal with the devil. Maybe settling for less cash, and working with partners you don't directly compete with, like DuckDuckGo and the like, would be a better long-term strategy even if it means less cashflow and a smaller company in the short term.

kgraves 6y ago

Thanks for the downvotes, I know you don't like the facts, but here they are: > Today, the majority of Mozilla Corporation revenue is generated from global browser search partnerships, including the deal negotiated with Google in 2017 following Mozilla’s termination of its search agreement with Yahoo/Oath (which was the subject of litigation the parties resolved in 2019.) [0] [1] [2] [0] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/2018/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/2018/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#Google [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/11/30/mozillas-money-latest-filings-include-a-few-surprises/#367ac6844222 https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/11/30/mozilla...

soundnote 6y ago

To do that now would be financial suicide. They have several new services, if they manage to get revenue from them they could survive cutting Google. But not before.

shock 6y ago
I present to you the Debian Foundation as a counter example. I posit they are surviving just fine without a contract with Google.
- staktrace 6y ago
  The Debian Foundation also doesn't have to compete against Google on a product that costs millions of dollars to build and maintain, and that Google throws billions at in marketing.
  - shock 6y ago
    At various levels it has to compete against Redhat/IBM, Microsoft and other Dekstop and Server OS vendors.
  - regularfry 6y ago
    Interesting comparison: they do compete against Red Hat, and thus IBM, who I could well believe do spend billions on marketing in the same space.
kgraves 6y ago
> They have several new services, Please name these revenue generating services from Mozilla.
- Yoric 6y ago
  From the top of my head, Firefox VPN and Pocket.
  - kgraves 6y ago
    What is more disappointing is this is what they have to show for after years of funding from Google. I get that they have to build a browser but come on. Is that it?

Yoric 6y ago

So what you're saying is... since Mozilla has cash difficulties, let's get rid of the main income source? Or am I misunderstanding?

kgraves 6y ago
YES I wouldn't do a deal with the devil that is also competing with you. Especially in the name of privacy.
rleigh 6y ago
Being beholden to your main competitor is a losing strategy. It's made them a lot of money in the short term to lose it all in the longer term. It's easy to comment on this in retrospect, but I personally think they should have considered this more seriously before making a deal with the devil. Maybe settling for less cash, and working with partners you don't directly compete with, like DuckDuckGo and the like, would be a better long-term strategy even if it means less cashflow and a smaller company in the short term.