Google Chrome has captured more than 67% of the worldwide search browser market, making it the dominant chief worldwide. Safari is No. 2 with almost 18%, Microsoft Edge has 5.2%, after which there’s Firefox with 2.54%.
Firefox, a free, open-source net browser, does not promote user data to advertisers. It is praised for its tracker-blocking however could be slower than Chrome. And its numbers are dropping — based on Firefox information, the browser has misplaced round 50 million monthly active users since March 2020.
Nevertheless, on Thursday, the social media crew let everybody know it is nonetheless right here and is tuned into the zeitgeist. The corporate posted on billionaire Mark Zuckerberg‘s Threads app to remind everybody that it has one thing different browsers do not — it is not backed by a billionaire.
“‘You are so humorous’ thanks, we’re the one main browser not backed by a billionaire,” the publish reads. It has garnered greater than 2,800 feedback up to now.
“That is all I must know to make [it] my default,” one person wrote.
“Advertising and marketing crew deserves a elevate,” one other added.
Nonetheless, different customers had been fast to notice that the corporate has a big cope with Google that’s just about their complete steadiness sheet, which makes their now-viral publish somewhat convoluted.
Firefox’s longstanding, $500 million-plus deal with Google (queries on Firefox are routed to Google’s search engine), seems to be holding the corporate afloat. The Firefox net browser is made by Mozilla, a non-profit tech firm that started within the Nineties to problem Microsoft’s then-market-ruling Web Explorer net browser. Based on the Mozilla Basis’s 2021-2022 monetary assertion (the latest one printed), $510 million out of its $593 million in income is from Google, per Fortune.
Reddit customers and tech bloggers are frightened that it might be the top for the beloved, albeit not-so-widely-used browser. A number of current posts point out the decline in market share (Firefox was over 3% in January 2024) and its low use on smartphones.
“For therefore, so a few years now I have been warning everybody about simply how fragile the way forward for Firefox was, and each one among my worries and predictions have turn out to be actuality,” one blogger writes on OSNews.
Additional including to the difficulty, in August, a judge ruled that “Google is a monopolist,” which can put Mozilla’s settlement with Google in jeopardy.
“We strongly urge the Court docket to think about cures that enhance search competitors with out harming unbiased browsers and browser engines,” a Mozilla spokesperson told PCMag in November.
This is a chart of market share per net browser:
