The Mozilla Foundation has ended its long collaboration with Google in the United States, replacing it with Yahoo Search as the default search engine in its Firefox browser, The Telegraph reports. This doesn’t mean that Google Search will disappear from the popular browser – it only means that the default search engine – accessible from the search box in the top right and on the Firefox startpage will be Yahoo in the US. In China, it will be Baidu, the local search provider, while in Russia Google will be replaced with Yandex. For European users there will be no change, Mozilla said.
With this move Mozilla has ended a decade-long partnership with Google. The search giant has reportedly paid over $470 million (almost 90% of the browser’s total annual revenue) in return of being the default search engine of the browser. There is no word about why the two companies have decided to end their relationship – the possible reasons are a better offer from Yahoo, or the falling market share of Firefox in the US. Firefox, once preferred by 30% of users around the world, has lost a lot of its market share – currently it is used by only 10% of American internet users, compared to Chrome with its 33% and Internet Explorer with its 20% share of the US market.
Firefox will offer its users a new and improved Yahoo search experience. The search engine’s design will be re-made, featuring a clear, modern and immersive design, a change that will be rolled out to the rest of Yahoo users at the beginning of 2015. Yahoo will take the opportunity to explore future product integrations and distribution opportunities for future markets as well.
“This partnership helps to expand our reach in search and also gives us an opportunity to work closely with Mozilla to find ways to innovate more broadly in search, communications, and digital content,” Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s CEO said.