2 ms·

Where are you getting 90% from? AFAICT it's closer to 50% or 60% [1] [2]. And, note, that deal was only a 4 year deal from 2017-2021 [1]. It's not like a decad

Where are you getting 90% from? AFAICT it's closer to 50% or 60% [1] [2]. And, note, that deal was only a 4 year deal from 2017-2021 [1]. It's not like a decades-old source of revenue that's dried up. And even though the deal is expiring, they've had deals before (yahoo etc), and will certainly have more in the future. 1: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3240008/mozillas-record-2016-revenue-funded-its-firefox-quantum-browser.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/3240008/mozillas-recor... 2: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-firefox-search-deal-gives-mozilla-more-money-to-push-privacy/ https://www.cnet.com/news/google-firefox-search-deal-gives-m...

stonogo 6y ago
The 90% number probably comes from Mozilla's financial report, last released for 2018 [1]. "Approximately 91% and 93% of Mozilla’s royalty revenues were derived from these contracts for 2018 and 2017, respectively, with receivables from these contracts representing approximately 75% and 79% of the December 31, 2018 and 2017 outstanding receivables, respectively." Since for 2018 'Royalties' income was about 430 million, and reports are[2] that the deal was 300 million per year from Google, it's still a massive chunk of Mozilla's operating income, but you're right, it's not 90%. It's more like two thirds of their revenue coming from their market-dominant direct competitor. Also note that while this specific contract is a four-year deal, Google had been paying Mozilla millions even before then; in 2006 most of Mozilla's money came from Google (note the source is a now-deleted blog post from the current CEO of Mozilla)[3]. It is indeed a decades-old source of revenue, but it remains to be seen if it's dried up; word is they're renewing the contract, but we'll have to wait for Mozilla's next financial report to get more information. 1- https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2018/mozilla-fdn-2018-short-form-final-0926.pdf https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2018/mozilla-fdn-201... 2- http://allthingsd.com/20111222/google-will-pay-mozilla-almost-300m-per-year-in-search-deal-besting-microsoft-and-yahoo/ http://allthingsd.com/20111222/google-will-pay-mozilla-almos... 3- https://www.cnet.com/news/a-dangerous-conflict-of-interest-between-firefox-and-google/ https://www.cnet.com/news/a-dangerous-conflict-of-interest-b...
- deklerk 6y ago
  Thanks for these great links! This is very informative.

stonogo 6y ago

The 90% number probably comes from Mozilla's financial report, last released for 2018 [1]. "Approximately 91% and 93% of Mozilla’s royalty revenues were derived from these contracts for 2018 and 2017, respectively, with receivables from these contracts representing approximately 75% and 79% of the December 31, 2018 and 2017 outstanding receivables, respectively." Since for 2018 'Royalties' income was about 430 million, and reports are[2] that the deal was 300 million per year from Google, it's still a massive chunk of Mozilla's operating income, but you're right, it's not 90%. It's more like two thirds of their revenue coming from their market-dominant direct competitor. Also note that while this specific contract is a four-year deal, Google had been paying Mozilla millions even before then; in 2006 most of Mozilla's money came from Google (note the source is a now-deleted blog post from the current CEO of Mozilla)[3]. It is indeed a decades-old source of revenue, but it remains to be seen if it's dried up; word is they're renewing the contract, but we'll have to wait for Mozilla's next financial report to get more information. 1- https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2018/mozilla-fdn-2018-short-form-final-0926.pdf https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2018/mozilla-fdn-201... 2- http://allthingsd.com/20111222/google-will-pay-mozilla-almost-300m-per-year-in-search-deal-besting-microsoft-and-yahoo/ http://allthingsd.com/20111222/google-will-pay-mozilla-almos... 3- https://www.cnet.com/news/a-dangerous-conflict-of-interest-between-firefox-and-google/ https://www.cnet.com/news/a-dangerous-conflict-of-interest-b...

deklerk 6y ago
Thanks for these great links! This is very informative.