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Some more details: * This is a new, more flexible partnership strategy. * Continuing the existing relationship with Google was an option, but Mozilla chose

Some more details: * This is a new, more flexible partnership strategy. * Continuing the existing relationship with Google was an option, but Mozilla chose to end the Google relationship. * All the options Mozilla considered had strong, improved economic terms (but the concrete numbers are not public). Because all the options had improved economics, that allowed Mozilla to really consider the strategic outlook. * The Yahoo agreement in the US is for five years. * Yahoo will be rolling out a new, improved search tool soon. * Mozilla has agreements with Yandex and Baidu for Russia and China. * Google will remain an included option in Firefox and Mozilla will continue to support its use.

chuckharmston 12y ago
Some details of the new Yahoo experience are available on their corporate Tumblr: http://yahoo.tumblr.com/1313 http://yahoo.tumblr.com/1313
mbrubeck 12y ago
Note: nnethercote is a Mozilla employee (as am I). These details are straight from the horse's mouth (dino's mouth?).
- olssy 12y ago
  As long as the horse is in the house, has Mozilla ever given any thought to creating its own search service?
  - mbrubeck 12y ago
    I don't know of any actual projects to that end, but certainly people have thought about it. I know from personal conversations that Asa Dotzler in particular has given it some very detailed thought, though I don't know if or where he's written up any of those ideas...
  - wodenokoto 12y ago
    I believe I have seen the notion pop up once or twice on planet.mozilla and it has been why its not a mozilla project.
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    Would there be a point in doing that instead of aligning with, say, DuckDuckGo? They share a primary ideology (an open web that works for everyone), and I imagine much of the Firefox userbase and developerbase (perhaps not a majority, but I'd imagine a significant minority) already uses DDG as their primary search engine.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
Nice. Sometimes watching the search business is like watching "Game of Thrones".
yohui 12y ago
How does promoting Yandex and Baidu in regions where they are already dominant (Russia and China, respectively) align with Mozilla's new mission? I'm not sure how entrenching their hold on their home markets promotes user choice, innovation, or privacy.
- dec0dedab0de 12y ago
  At least it provides diversity of income for Mozilla.
- gcp 12y ago
  Because it prevents the worldwide biggest search provider from eventually also taking over those remaining holdouts?
  - yohui 12y ago
    I don't think there's any danger of Google taking over the Chinese market... Perhaps Yandex is more at risk, but my impression is that Yandex dominates Russia much as Google leads the US. In Russia, Google is the underdog. Firefox's switch can only dampen competition in the Russian market, while users in markets without Yandex neither gain nor lose. The rest of the world may stand to benefit, if these national champions expand beyond their borders, and if they offer users a better choice than the competition. But that remains to be proven. In the meantime, Mozilla's switch will certainly have a measurable impact on the current competitive landscape.
- eatitraw 12y ago
  What should they do in Russia? Help the second biggest player, which is Google? :) Although TBH, in Russia there are mail.ru(with their search engine) and sputnik.ru (a search engine funded by company called Rostelekom. The majority of it is owned by state/government).
- wodenokoto 12y ago
  Nowhere does it say that Mozillas new mission is to break up market dominant players. Their new search strategy is to globally have more search partners than before, while continueing to serve regions with default search that are good/best for that region. There is no doubt that Baidu gives better result than Google for most Chinese users. I dont know much about Yandex, but Im sure they have a better grasp of the Russian users than Google does right now and thus provides better service.
justinschuh 12y ago
Will the settings be changed for existing users, or only for new installs?
- eamsen 12y ago
  The new default search engine is changing, so if you are using the current default engine for your country (Google in the US), then your search engine will change to the new default (Yahoo in the US). It will not affect users who are not using the default search engine.

chuckharmston 12y ago

Some details of the new Yahoo experience are available on their corporate Tumblr: http://yahoo.tumblr.com/1313 http://yahoo.tumblr.com/1313

mbrubeck 12y ago

Note: nnethercote is a Mozilla employee (as am I). These details are straight from the horse's mouth (dino's mouth?).

olssy 12y ago
As long as the horse is in the house, has Mozilla ever given any thought to creating its own search service?
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  I don't know of any actual projects to that end, but certainly people have thought about it. I know from personal conversations that Asa Dotzler in particular has given it some very detailed thought, though I don't know if or where he's written up any of those ideas...
- wodenokoto 12y ago
  I believe I have seen the notion pop up once or twice on planet.mozilla and it has been why its not a mozilla project.
- yellowapple 12y ago
  Would there be a point in doing that instead of aligning with, say, DuckDuckGo? They share a primary ideology (an open web that works for everyone), and I imagine much of the Firefox userbase and developerbase (perhaps not a majority, but I'd imagine a significant minority) already uses DDG as their primary search engine.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

Nice. Sometimes watching the search business is like watching "Game of Thrones".

yohui 12y ago

How does promoting Yandex and Baidu in regions where they are already dominant (Russia and China, respectively) align with Mozilla's new mission? I'm not sure how entrenching their hold on their home markets promotes user choice, innovation, or privacy.

dec0dedab0de 12y ago
At least it provides diversity of income for Mozilla.
gcp 12y ago
Because it prevents the worldwide biggest search provider from eventually also taking over those remaining holdouts?
- yohui 12y ago
  I don't think there's any danger of Google taking over the Chinese market... Perhaps Yandex is more at risk, but my impression is that Yandex dominates Russia much as Google leads the US. In Russia, Google is the underdog. Firefox's switch can only dampen competition in the Russian market, while users in markets without Yandex neither gain nor lose. The rest of the world may stand to benefit, if these national champions expand beyond their borders, and if they offer users a better choice than the competition. But that remains to be proven. In the meantime, Mozilla's switch will certainly have a measurable impact on the current competitive landscape.
eatitraw 12y ago
What should they do in Russia? Help the second biggest player, which is Google? :) Although TBH, in Russia there are mail.ru(with their search engine) and sputnik.ru (a search engine funded by company called Rostelekom. The majority of it is owned by state/government).
wodenokoto 12y ago
Nowhere does it say that Mozillas new mission is to break up market dominant players. Their new search strategy is to globally have more search partners than before, while continueing to serve regions with default search that are good/best for that region. There is no doubt that Baidu gives better result than Google for most Chinese users. I dont know much about Yandex, but Im sure they have a better grasp of the Russian users than Google does right now and thus provides better service.

justinschuh 12y ago

Will the settings be changed for existing users, or only for new installs?

eamsen 12y ago
The new default search engine is changing, so if you are using the current default engine for your country (Google in the US), then your search engine will change to the new default (Yahoo in the US). It will not affect users who are not using the default search engine.