Slightly buried in the news that #Chrome will have to be sold off, there’s also news that Google cannot pay browsers to be their default search engine.
That’s going to have huge effects, especially for browsers like #Firefox - it’s going to be an interesting to see this pan out
#tech #webdev #google #programming #web #code #Mozilla
So a lawsuit against Google will end up killing Firefox?
@superkret weirdly, yeah. Firefox gets the majority of its money from Google paying to be the default browser. If they’re banned from doing that, a lot of browsers will see a big drop in funding.
And Chrome too. I don’t really see how either of those can be viable without that search engine money.
If happens, it will start a clock ticking for Firefox to replace that income or shrink to a sustainable staff size before their money runs out.
Would Apple be banned from funding Firefox by this?
Why would Apple fund Firefox? Not for the kindness of their heart, that’s for sure. I can see Microsoft/bing replacing google though.
For the same reason as Google, to be the default search engine.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/08/07/will-apple-build-a-search-engine/
Note that it’s not “will have to be” sold off, it’s that the demand is for that to happen. The case still has to play out (including appeals) before we know what the actual consequences will be.
What about operating systems? Apple sells out their users to Google in the same way for billions of dollars a year.
@zoostation good question. Though in Apples case, they’re probably fine. They make a tonne of cash, and have a pile of it 😅