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Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

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Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#71
post #50
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better argument is that Mozilla needs to diversify its revenue sources. Chrome is taking away marketshare from Firefox thanks to advertising and paying a lot to be bundled with Java, Flash, Acrobat etc. updates or just being shipped as default by the PC OEMs. It makes sense for Google because then they needn't pay out so much to Mozilla. For many non tech folks where I had replaced IE with Firefox, I now se…

On a purely market basis, 400k buys talent comparable to a senior manager / director of the Chrome or Safari team of ~100 people, not a VP or CEO of a company with $100m annual revenue. $400k is what one-trick ponies like doctors and lawyers and traditional industry local small business owners earn.

> $400k is what one-trick ponies like doctors and lawyers

...and the President of the United States [1]...

> and traditional industry local small business owners earn.

[1] http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/pensionFARQ.html

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#72
post #51
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better argument is that Mozilla needs to diversify its revenue sources. Chrome is taking away marketshare from Firefox thanks to advertising and paying a lot to be bundled with Java, Flash, Acrobat etc. updates or just being shipped as default by the PC OEMs. It makes sense for Google because then they needn't pay out so much to Mozilla. For many non tech folks where I had replaced IE with Firefox, I now se…

> For many non tech folks where I had replaced IE with Firefox, I now see them using Chrome, and when I asked if they installed it, they usually have no idea how it got on their computer. Chrome probably got there the same way Firefox got there - a well meaning individual (you, in the case of Firefox) installed it and told them to use it because it is "better".

Also b/c anytime you visit Google.com on any non-Chrome browser, it tells you to install Chrome for faster browsing. Google.com is so sparse that Chrome ad sticking out on the side is quite effective.

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#73

Building a browser is pretty complex, but on the other hand, the OpenBSD developers are building an operating system without funding from anyone but their users. I wonder if Mozilla could survive solely on funds from their users or if it's two different worlds.

It's important to remember that the Mozilla Foundation does more than just Firefox -- Thunderbird, Firefox OS, Mozilla Labs, Mozilla Research, etc. all get a slice of the pie. So while Firefox would likely survive, it'd imagine it would look much more like the post-Netscape, pre-MFL years. No more work on stuff like Rust, Servo, asm.js, things like Thunderbird would atrophy... That said, I'm not sold on Mozilla needi…

I would like to think they'd annihilate each other like antimatter and antimatter. Microsoft tried to smother OSS on many occasions, both directly, through FUD, and by proxy (SCO). Embrace extend extinguish. Steamrolling Windows-only solutions over standards. They just killed patent reform efforts.

It just seems like they embody the opposite of Mozilla organization's ideals.

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#74
This isn't about Google playing the good guy. Their core business heavily relies on big, personalized data. By giving all that money to Mozilla, they claim the default search engine and probably some other man-in-the-middle services too (like Google error pages or Google anti-malware protection). I haven't used Firefox for a while, but I guess that also includes auto completion in the navigation bar like Chromium.

It is only logical for them to invest in spots they can gain this data from.

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#75
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a purely market basis, 400k buys talent comparable to a senior manager / director of the Chrome or Safari team of ~100 people, not a VP or CEO of a company with $100m annual revenue. $400k is what one-trick ponies like doctors and lawyers and traditional industry local small business owners earn.

> $400k is what one-trick ponies like doctors and lawyers and traditional industry local small business owners earn. Or a little under twice that of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ( pop. 60 million ), when summing his MP and Government jobs. The combined ministerial and parliamentary salary of the Prime Minister is £142,500 at April 2013 I'm fairly confident in saying that David Cameron puts in considerably…

Salary isn't based on effort, it's based on value created and how difficult it is to find someone else who could create that value.

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#77
A lot of folks here are suggesting that Google's status as a primary source of revenue for Mozilla does NOT leave Mozilla beholden to Google's wishes. Without arguing if this is true or not, I'd like to ask a follow-up: are nonprofit/political organizations that receive substantial support from the Koch brothers also NOT beholden to the Koch brothers? Why or why not?

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#79
Where is the evidence that the revenue is coming from Google ? If you look at the actual report[1], Google is never mentioned. From that all we can conclude is that Mozilla has made more revenue on Royalties.

Mozilla has diversified it's income stream with FirefoxOS and it's entry into the mobile market. Couldn't some of the royalties come from Telephonica and other mobile operators ?

[1]: https://static.mozilla.com/moco/en-US/pdf/Mozilla_Audited_Fi...

Re: Mozilla’s reliance on Google is increasing: 90% of 2012 revenue

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla cares a lot more about happy users than about your principles. They're not going to switch to dramatically worse search results just to appease the tin hat crowd.

> They're not going to switch to dramatically worse search results just to appease the tin hat crowd. Calling them the "tin hat" crowd would suggest that they are delusion when, in fact, the U.S. government has repeatedly admitted that they are spying everybody and they don't understand why anyone should complain.

Just because they are out to get you doesn’t mean you aren’t paranoid.
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