SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google Inc. and Mozilla have
agreed to keep Google as the default search engine on the Firefox Web
browser for three more years, the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation announced
Tuesday.
“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will
continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of
Firefox users around the world,” Gary Kovacs, CEO of Mozilla, said in
the blog post announcing the deal.
Google’s search relationship with the Mozilla
Foundation began in 2004, when it became the default search engine on
the Firefox browser; Google also helped fund the Mozilla Foundation.
With support from Google, Firefox challenged Internet Explorer for
browser dominance, even though Internet Explorer controlled 90 percent
of the market when the deal was first struck in 2004.
But Google released its own browser, Chrome, in 2008,
and Chrome passed Firefox as the No. 2 most-used browser worldwide in
November, according to StatCounter. Both browsers command slightly more
than one-quarter of the market, StatCounter reported, with Chrome
slightly ahead at 25.7 percent to Firefox’s 25.2 percent. Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer is still the leader at 40.6 percent.
Chrome is based on many of the same standards as
Firefox, but Google renewed its deal with Mozilla as Chrome debuted in
2008. The deal between the two Mountain View, Calif.-based entities
expired in November, the same month Chrome surpassed Firefox in user
share.
The Google deal has helped keep Mozilla alive:
According to Mozilla Foundation financial disclosures, Google accounted
for 86 percent of its revenue in 2009.
“Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over
the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in
the years to come,” Alan Eustace, senior vice president of search at
Google, said in the blog post.
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(Chris O’Brien of the San Jose Mercury News contributed to this report.)
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