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New Search Strategy for Firefox

blog.mozilla.org

161–170 of 352 posts

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#161
I can't get at the post, so maybe they answer this, but... in this thread, I'm seeing that it's Yahoo! in the U.S., Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China. That seems to leave... a lot of the globe unspoken for. What's the default search for those places?

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#162
post #131
post #63

This is why Google built Chrome. Google's strategy has been to remove the layers between the user's intent to search and Google's own server. Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. When viewed through these lens, many of the seemingly ancillary Google business units start to make strategic sense. Android (control the device), Chrome (control the browser), Fiber (control the…

> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?

Safari and Firefox were (and are) pretty darn good. Given that Chrome used Safari's rendering engine, I wouldn't expect otherwise.

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#163
post #131
post #63

This is why Google built Chrome. Google's strategy has been to remove the layers between the user's intent to search and Google's own server. Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. When viewed through these lens, many of the seemingly ancillary Google business units start to make strategic sense. Android (control the device), Chrome (control the browser), Fiber (control the…

> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?

Yes, I used Opera back then.

Only Chrome finally made a faster/better/stronger browser.

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#164
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would this be a bad decision, or make you less likely to use Firefox? Mozilla exists in large part due to the abuses that come with monopolistic control over the Internet. Google is dangerously close to that line. Choosing a different partner seems like the most mission-aligned option for Mozilla.

Making the product worse, from the perspective users care about, for ideals. FF, for instance, made their multi-browser "sync" horribly complicated for users, to preserve zero knowledge, which is the opposite of what 99% of users wanted. Chrome made it simple (and THEN added a fairly decent ZK option buried in advanced). What makes Mozilla/Firefox relevant is having enough users that it can't be ignored. Mozilla is a…

Yeah, Sync could be improved a lot. The good news is that we are working on it, and I have hopes that the next version will solve all issues (both performance and UX) without sacrificing privacy.

Now, if the question is whether adopting Yahoo & co will be bad for the user experience, Mozilla is betting on the fact that these smaller search providers can deliver not just a comparable experience, but also innovation from many sources.

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#165
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?

Maybe your memory is failing you, but FF and Safari were still great browsers when Chrome first came out. Chrome took over slowly because of constant improvement, it wasn't much different except for some technical details and clean UI.

For simple pages Chrome was faster. But the tradeoff was that you didn't get things like MathML- which was important to- maybe- three of us. And iirc, SVG was better on FF (I did physics tutorial and animation stuff- I told people to use FF).

Also, I still prefer video on FF. Chrome is choppier with a lousy connection or hardware. But Chrome is quicker to load a simple site which makes it overall a better experience for passive web browsing. (But to be fair my FF is loaded with add-ons so that may slow it down a bit).

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#166

Mozilla is making some major moves these days. They've ditched Google as their main revenue source, partnering with Tor and Yahoo. Yahoo is angling to be a digital magazine, which I like as a business model much more than Google's. Firefox is making a strong case for itself as the privacy centric browser. I still remember when Firefox started gaining market share. Even non-tech-savvy people were getting firefox, beca…

Also let's remember the humble bundle, and the new Mozilla Developer Browser

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#167
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?

Maybe your memory is failing you, but FF and Safari were still great browsers when Chrome first came out. Chrome took over slowly because of constant improvement, it wasn't much different except for some technical details and clean UI.

Firefox was great, but the performance was sub-par around version 3, and the time between releases was measured in years, not weeks. Chrome definitely gave Mozilla a nice kick in the backside, which I am very thankful for. These days Firefox is now close to, if not faster and less memory hungry than Chrome.

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#168
post #158
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yahoo's main business is not search, so I don't know how bad it needs it. Of course more money is always good, and Yahoo is not a super growing company, Alaso, this is the same strategy that turned Google from "best buddy" to "arch rival" in the eyes of Apple and pushed Apple to have its own mapping service and offer other search options. This is also the level of control that motivates people to try Duckduckgo, or s…

I’m not sure why they haven’t made DDG the default yet.

Realistically it's because DDG can't pay the bills

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#169

Some more details: * This is a new, more flexible partnership strategy. * Continuing the existing relationship with Google was an option, but Mozilla chose to end the Google relationship. * All the options Mozilla considered had strong, improved economic terms (but the concrete numbers are not public). Because all the options had improved economics, that allowed Mozilla to really consider the strategic outlook. * The…

Will the settings be changed for existing users, or only for new installs?

Re: New Search Strategy for Firefox

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been for the last three years, but Mozilla decided to go with Yahoo/Yandex/Baidu rather than renew the deal with Google. So Yahoo (and others) will replace Google as the main revenue source.

Have they disclosed the new financial terms of the agreement though? I'd be interested to see how the numbers have changed.

The numbers are never disclosed, but they can usually be inferred from Mozilla's public accounting. That'll take a while, though.
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