Google Wins Back Firefox. Does It Matter?
Earlier this week, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) subsidiary Google and Mozilla announced that Google would be returning to the Firefox browser as the default search engine in the U.S. and Canada. The news comes almost exactly two years after Firefox switched from Google to Yahoo! (which is now owned by Verizon subsidiary Oath), and was included alongside the announcement for Firefox Quantum, the newest version of the browser.
Mozilla relies almost entirely on these types of search partnerships, with the related royalties often comprising about 90% of revenue for the non-profit organization. For example, in its 2015 annual report (Mozilla has not yet released a 2016 annual report), it notes:
Mozilla entered into a contract with a search engine provider for royalties which expired in November 2014. In December 2014, Mozilla entered into a contract with another search engine provider for royalties which expires December 2019.
Source: Fool.com
