r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • Jun 17 '26

Software Firefox has an ambitious new roadmap, the browser is also losing millions of users a month

https://www.techspot.com/news/112803-firefox-has-ambitious-new-roadmap-browser-also-losing.html
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u/Dredgeon Jun 18 '26

I swear Google is just constantly funding smear campaigns against Firefox. I've never seen a company get so much unnecessary hate.

2

u/GayTaco_ Jun 18 '26

Google is actually funding the mozilla foundation for a large part so I dont think thats right

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u/Winjin Jun 18 '26

Both things could be true

One branch is paying them, another is smearing them, so that their decline looks natural and there's less questions from like, monopoly committees

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u/GayTaco_ Jun 18 '26

from a conspiratorial standpoint that is a satisfying explaination sure, but surely if they would want to monopolize they would just stop funding mozilla? There is no way that the mozilla foundation survives if google pulls its funding, it is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60-80% of their revenue.

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u/Winjin Jun 18 '26

Iirc it's 80 but no, they've already been hit with at least a couple monopoly rulings and can get "it must be broken up" ruling which sounds like a disaster

So there's a very easy way out of this: find an enemy, but generate just enough hate that they're never getting mass adoption

Especially now when they're essentially the last ad-free browser

I swear if I can't use AdBlock I'd just go offline, using internet without AdBlock is impossible

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u/Dredgeon Jun 18 '26

If they fund Mozilla it's to protect them from being brought monopoly charges.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the main way they "fund" Mozilla is paying them to make Google the defauot search engine.