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Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

calpaterson.com

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Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#191

Post by Traubenfuchs »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #108

>This is baffling given that mobile Firefox has a rare feature for a mobile browser: it's able to install extensions and so can block ads. I'm not sure about the extent to which this is true? I dont think Firefox has extensions on iOS (probably not up to Mozilla). Meanwhile, the extension experience on Android is "bumpy" to put it lightly. Just a few weeks ago, FF mobile broke nearly every single extension (apparentl…

There are now adblocker ("Content Blocker") apps for mobile Safari, iOS provides an API for that. No other extensions though.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#192

Post by therealx »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #183
kwanbix wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not that they get most of their revenue from Google. The problem is that they have 5% share of the web now.

5% of a few billion users is not nothing. Mostly the decline of Mozilla has little to do with the browser functionality or marketing but with the fact that there are several competing browsers out there that have caught up. E.g. MS ditched IE in favor of Edge. Apple has continued investing in Safari which they also force the usage of exclusively on IOS. And of course Google has similar control point in the form of Ch…

I agree with most of this, however I think graphic design and some marketing is still very important. In fact, now more than ever they need that. Engineering should still be the primary focus, though.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#195

Post by freshsqueeze »

elkos wrote: post #36

The article suggests that Mozilla should invest in building financial independence. One suggestion would be to build an endowment. Would you have other suggestions on how Mozilla and open-source organizations in general could do to achieve that?

the money they burned could have bought whatsapp and instagram.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#196

Post by GlennS »

echelon wrote: post #153
drenvuk wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I like Balmer and Tim Cook. Their fortunes are tied to the success of their companies rather than leeching off of it as it dies. I'd posit that any CEO who is not in a Ride or Die relationship with their company does not have correctly aligned incentives for their performance.

Microsoft traded sideways during the Ballmer era.

Microsoft's share price didn't go up much because they paid out large dividends. If you look at total return people who owned shares in Microsoft did very well.

(If you look at a company's share price, you will see a drop roughly equivalent to the dividend per share each time dividends are paid.)

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#197

Post by freshsqueeze »

nottorp wrote: post #25

Pretty sad because it is the only privacy oriented browser left. Safari has dropped support for any privacy oriented extensions, and while Chrome might support them, everything you do with it goes through Google anyway. That while Firefox can run uBlock Origin, has the Facebook container built in and you can even install a 3rd party Google container.

rather "privacy privacy privacy" is the only play they have left

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#198

Post by zbuf »

firefoxd wrote: post #97

The hardest thing to see here is that we don't have a solution. Firefox makes money by setting google as the default search. Google is its biggest competitor. There are no obvious other revenue stream. Also, let's not pretend chrome sucks. Chrome is on top because it is an amazing browser (and you are googling stuff anyway). Firefox needs to change it's strategy, it needs to pull an Amazon. Amazon is the type of busi…

Is the Google funding enough to maintain the browser development (and participation in web standards) of Mozilla?

It has always seemed like it should be.

That focus could be a welcome simplicity to this.

Long term you don't want a single donor, but this very simple mission then makes it easier to broaden that base of donations.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#199

Post by anticristi »

I'm really not a big fan of Google's tracking-friendly browser. However, I hate Mozilla's hypocrisy even more, trying to act like the defendants of privacy, but dependent on mis-aligned cash.

In the end, I chose Chrome as a protest against this hypocrisy.

Re: Firefox usage is down despite Mozilla's top exec pay going up

#200

Post by exged »

sunseb wrote: post #93

Believe it or not, I have never tried Chrome, always been using Firefox. Why are people switching to Chrome?

It's pretty simple - for regular users Chrome is faster, has more features, uses less power, and has better website support. It is also aggressively marketed by the largest advertising company on the planet.

It wasn't always this way. For example, FF beat Chrome in battery life until a few years ago, and FF extensions used to be superior in functionality Chrome extensions. Chrome eventually caught up in the few areas they were seriously lagging in, or Firefox shot itself in the foot trying to morph itself into a copy of Chrome (eg. multiprocess architecture, WebExtensions).

Today there is little reason to use any browser other than Chrome / Chromium or Safari (which is still superior on Mac / iOS in a few aspects).

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