Firefox может быть заблокирован без согласия Google на поиск

Firefox may cease to exist if the court implements all of the Justice Department’s proposals to limit Google’s search monopoly, the head of Mozilla, the company that owns the browser, заявила on Friday. “It’s very frightening,” said Mozilla CFO Eric Mulheim.

The DOJ wants to prohibit Google from paying to be the default search engine in third-party browsers, including Firefox, among a long list of other proposals, including forcing it to sell its own Chrome browser and requiring Google to syndicate search results with competitors. The court has already ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in search, thanks in part to exclusive agreements that make it the default engine in browsers and phones, denying competitors room to distribute their search engines and scale. But while Firefox – whose CFO is testifying as Google presents its defense – competes directly with Chrome, he warns that losing lucrative default payments from Google could threaten its existence.

According to Mulheim, the CFO of Mozilla’s commercial division, Firefox generates about 90 percent of the company’s revenue, which in turn helps fund the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation. He added that about 85 percent of that revenue comes from the Google deal.

Losing this revenue at the same time would mean that Mozilla would be forced to make “significant cuts across the company,” Mulheim testified, and warned of a “downward spiral” that could occur if the company had to cut back on investment in Firefox product development, making it less attractive to users. Such a spiral, he said, could “put Firefox out of business.” It could also mean less money for nonprofit efforts such as open-source web tools and evaluating how AI can help fight climate change.

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