Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

blog.mozilla.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 154 posts

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

#41

Post by ocdtrekkie »

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…

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.

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

#42

Post by sandworm101 »

michaelbrooks wrote: post #38
sandworm101 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are allowed. My work machine is locked into bing. I can bookmark google.com or duckduckgo.com but default/quick searches go through bing. (Google.com redirects to google.ca which drives me crazy sometimes.) I'd bet the majority of bing traffic comes from such workplaces.

If you can, sign up for Bing rewards and earn points while you search. You can use those points in exchange for entering competitions or Microsoft/Windows devices and Xbox gift cards.

Lol. I dont touch any MS products outside of work, and certainly dont want to sign up for anything MS-related. I'm and oldschool linux guy who still sees MS as the big evil. It will take them at least 20 more years before i trust them with anything.

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

#43

Post by Santosh83 »

brador wrote: post #34
Santosh83 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have options to decline sending any potentially personal data back, and then telemetry would include only basic, anonymised usage info to help them improve Firefox. Pocket is now part of Mozilla and you can still just remove the button from the toolbar and ignore it completely. I assume that video chat thing was only ever proof-of-concept, at least I don't see it anywhere anymore. As for EME, well, most people wa…

> telemetry would include only basic, anonymised usage info to help them improve Firefox. This is unacceptable. Why can't I turn it off completely?

Seems like you can turn it off completely (except it still collects some data but does not actually send it to Mozilla), but you need to read the docs and toggle some about:config preferences.

https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/toolkit/components/t...

Personally I'd just uncheck all the options exposed in the UI and trust that Mozilla is not collecting stuff behind my back, at least not data that can be de-anonymised.

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

#44

Post by Redoubts »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #13
ethhics wrote: post #7

So Mozilla backed out of their 5-year contract with Yahoo then [1]. Do they have a new agreement with Google that I'm not seeing anywhere? [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/11/19/promoting-choice-an...

My guess is the other way around: Yahoo backed out of their contract with Mozilla. The biggest difference for either of these companies this year is that Verizon now owns Yahoo, and probably doesn't want to pay for search market share. If the deal's a yearly cost or something similar, the bill's coming up in December.

They have to keep paying though

https://www.recode.net/2016/7/7/12116296/marissa-mayer-deal-...

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

#45

Post by luckystarr »

talmand wrote: post #28
amelius wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, Firefox could automatically switch to e.g. Duckduckgo whenever the user is in incognito mode.

Well, they could, but I would assume a contract with Google would prevent that.

Could. We don't know what's in this contract.

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

#46

Post by s17n »

amelius wrote: post #21
neuland wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Still, Firefox could automatically switch to e.g. Duckduckgo whenever the user is in incognito mode.

Pretty sure Google doesn't circumvent incognito so what's the point?

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

#47

Post by greiskul »

sandworm101 wrote: post #25
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.

If you are allowed. My work machine is locked into bing. I can bookmark google.com or duckduckgo.com but default/quick searches go through bing. (Google.com redirects to google.ca which drives me crazy sometimes.) I'd bet the majority of bing traffic comes from such workplaces.

If you want to use google.com without being redirected for some reason, you can use www.google.com/ncr (No country redirect).

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

#48

Post by goptimize »

CoryG89 wrote: post #32
goptimize wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not financially stronger if one day most of your income will come from a source which you are expected to strongly protect from.

It's not 'one day', the majority of Mozilla's funding has always come from 'search royalties'. Wikipedia says initial funding first came from AOL in 2003, then they had a deal with Google from 2004-2014. In 2014, it says they signed a deal with Yahoo. This is nothing new. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Foundation#Financing

even more it is a joke to talk about being financially strong=independent, it is a puppet / outsourced browser organization

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

#49

Post by MaxBarraclough »

quickben wrote: post #10
sidcool wrote: post #6

Looks like Google is gaining its foothold back

I've been out of reading news about it are they still shuffling cash to Mozilla?

I suspect so. Not very impressed that Mozilla failed to mention the money question, when it's obviously going to be a matter of concern for anyone who thinks the Mozillian way.

Could be an interesting tension if so. Mozilla were involved in a recent event promoting awareness of data/privacy concerns. They weren't shy about mentioning Google by name as a big bad.

https://theglassroom.org/

Post reply on HN