Firefox drops Google
as default search engine,
inks a five-year deal with Yahoo
inks a five-year deal with Yahoo
Yahoo struck a deal
with Firefox maker Mozilla Corp to replace Google Inc as the default search
engine on the Firefox Web browser in the United States, a move that Yahoo Chief
Executive Marissa Mayer said will help boost its flagging search market share.
The deal between the
two companies will start in December and is set to last five years, Yahoo said.
Mayer would not disclose the financial terms other than to say that the
partnership is a revenue sharing agreement and includes certain “guarantees.”
The partnership, which
integrates Yahoo search into Firefox’s browser for desktop PCs and mobile
devices such as smartphones, will produce a “share gain” for Yahoo, Mayer said
in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
The Mozilla deal means
that users of the Firefox browser in the U.S. will automatically be routed to
search results on Yahoo’s website when they type a query into the small box
that appears at the top of the browser.
“It’s one of the
largest independently-directed search share opportunities available in the
market,” Mayer said, declining to estimate how much of a boost Yahoo expected
to receive from the deal.
Yahoo’s share of the
U.S. search market on desktop PCs is currently about 10 percent, according to
industry research firm comScore, compared to Microsoft’s roughly 20 percent and
Google’s 67 percent.
Google previously
served as the default search option for users of the Firefox Web browser on an
international basis. With Google’s three-year deal coming to an end, Mozilla
has struck deals with several search engines in different regions, including
Baidu Inc in China and Yandex NV in Russia.
Yahoo said it has
revamped the look of its search engine, making more use of rich graphics and
photos, for the Firefox partnership. The Web search results will continue to be
powered by Microsoft, in keeping with the 10-year partnership that Yahoo and
Microsoft began in 2010.
Firefox had 10.4
percent of the U.S. browser market on desktop PCs, mobile smartphones and
tablets last month, according to tech data firm StatCounter. Google’s Chrome
browser was the leader with 33.5 percent.
Yahoo shares were up 1
percent at $51.10 in extended trading on Wednesday.
Reuters