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Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#121

Post by alphonsegaston »

neuland wrote: post #15
mrarjonny wrote: post #4

DuckDuckGo, Start Page, or Qwant might have been a little more in the spirit of Mozilla and privacy. Then again it takes about half a second to change the default search to your own preference. Google is probably the most approachable for the vast majority of users. It is a sensible move in that regard.

Your right on a privacy front from an absolute perspective. But, it's almost certain that Google paid for this change. A stronger Mozilla (financially speaking) is good for privacy and free software. Also, normal users expect Google. So, having it in the default provides a more familiar experience for them to possibly switch to Firefox.

Keeping Firefox alive also helps assuage anti-trust concerns with regard to Chrome’s position in their ecosystem.

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#122

Post by bobajeff »

lloydde wrote: post #30

Mozilla missed the opportunity to regain some of their authentic voice with this announcement. “This is part of our ongoing search strategy, announced in 2014 to evaluate and select the best search experience in each region as opposed to having a single global default.” is revisionist. I worked on a competing browser, Flock, in 2005 and Mozilla already had a strong and wonderful commitment to use the (local) best sea…

The deal before the Yahoo one made Google the default everywhere (even China and Russia and other places where Google wasn't the best search engine).

I don't work there so I don't know if they could've gotten the same amount that Yahoo agreed to without continuing to make Google default in all localities.

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#123

Post by ocdtrekkie »

icebraining wrote: post #67
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was never any real commitment to the "best" search engine in a region. Mozilla has been paid by Google to be the default search since 2004.

I'd say they're using the best for the financial viability of Mozilla. Which in turn is for the best of their users.

I don't disagree. But that doesn't change the fact that the parent post's idea that they "choose the best search engine" is completely false. Mozilla has been paid for search settings consistently since 2004.

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#124

Post by bobajeff »

mrarjonny wrote: post #4

DuckDuckGo, Start Page, or Qwant might have been a little more in the spirit of Mozilla and privacy. Then again it takes about half a second to change the default search to your own preference. Google is probably the most approachable for the vast majority of users. It is a sensible move in that regard.

But then they'd have the same issue they had with Yahoo. Where users would be put off by the default not being Google.

They are clearly trying hard with this release to get back users now.

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#125

Post by joeyblow »

11backslashes wrote: post #79
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #11

I really just wish they would go back to letting the search bar change on the fly and remain that way until you change it back. With the little icon letting you know which service it is currently set to. Does anyone know why that functionality was removed? If I'm searching for anything other than my default chances are I'm going to be searching at least 3 different things before getting it right, but then I can't jus…

I use DDG as default, and have all my other engines set with keywords. Searching wikipedia (mapped to 'wk') for instance is as easy as: ctrl+l wk

https://duckduckgo.com/bang

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#126

Post by hyperboria »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #11

I really just wish they would go back to letting the search bar change on the fly and remain that way until you change it back. With the little icon letting you know which service it is currently set to. Does anyone know why that functionality was removed? If I'm searching for anything other than my default chances are I'm going to be searching at least 3 different things before getting it right, but then I can't jus…

How to switch off search-engines panel in url-search?

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#127

Post by ocdtrekkie »

bzbarsky wrote: post #117
Tinyyy wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google paid Mozilla to be the default search engine in the United States.

Google used to be the default search engine in Russia too (though I can't comment on whether they were paying for that). When it became clear that Yandex generally delivered better search results for queries in Russian, Mozilla switched to Yandex.

Are you 100% sure Yandex has not provided any funding to Mozilla? "Following our review in 2014, Google remained the default provider outside the US, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, China, and other regions where we had search agreements."

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#128

Post by ocdtrekkie »

dralley wrote: post #69
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was never any real commitment to the "best" search engine in a region. Mozilla has been paid by Google to be the default search since 2004.

Both Bing and Yahoo have been the default search between now and then too...

I don't think Bing has ever been the default search on Firefox. Google paid for the spot from 2004-2014, and Yahoo paid for it between 2014-2017. Google is almost certainly paying for the spot again now. At least here in the US, Bing has never been the default as far as I know.

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#129

Post by hyperboria »

hyperboria wrote: post #126
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #11

I really just wish they would go back to letting the search bar change on the fly and remain that way until you change it back. With the little icon letting you know which service it is currently set to. Does anyone know why that functionality was removed? If I'm searching for anything other than my default chances are I'm going to be searching at least 3 different things before getting it right, but then I can't jus…

How to switch off search-engines panel in url-search?

about:config browser.urlbar.oneOffSearches false

Re: Firefox Features Google as Default Search Provider in the U.S.

#130

Post by toomanybeersies »

fenwick67 wrote: post #72
jonnycomputer wrote: post #3

I feel like the quality of deep search is diminishing; either there is less free content on the web, or search has been optimized for something else; I just get the same results over and over, not matter what combination of search terms I used on a topic.

I think the problem is that making a worthless website (by this I mean worthless to users) is so cheap but also very lucrative for content farms. A webpage with garbage content but that has taken the right SEO measures has a good chance of getting on the first page and getting clicked, and these can be cloned ad infinitum with different content. It's very easy now for good content to be hidden amongst clickbait.

c.f. Wikihow, and its endless stream of useless how-tos
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