Mozilla welcomes Google browser

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 2 Sep 2008 at 11:22

Mozilla is playing it cool over Google's shock entrance into the browser market, claiming it will spur further innovation.

Speaking on his blog, Mozilla's chief executive John Lilly claimed the arrival of a Google browser wasn't really a shock: "It should come as no real surprise that Google has done something here - their business is the web, and they've got clear opinions on how things should be, and smart people thinking about how to make things better. Chrome will be a browser optimised for the things that they see as important, and it'll be interesting to see how it evolves."

Interesting is the word. Google pays Mozilla handsomely to be the default search engine on Firefox, providing around 85% of its overall revenues, equating to £31 million of the £37 million Mozilla Corporation made in 2006.

However, Lilly skirted the issue of its biggest financier potentially becoming its biggest competitor, noting: "On the financial front, as has been reported lately, we've just renewed our economic arrangement with them through November 2011, which means a lot for our ability to continue to invest in Firefox and in new things like mobile and services.

"So all those aligned efforts should continue. And similarly, the parts where we're different, with different missions, will continue to be separate... So even in a more competitive environment than ever, I'm very optimistic about the future of Mozilla and the future of the open web."

Find out why we believe Google's announcement could be curtains for Firefox on the blogs.