Mozilla has opposed the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed ban on Google’s search payments, warning that the move could seriously harm independent browsers like Firefox. The DOJ’s proposal, part of an antitrust case against Google, aims to limit the company’s dominance in web search. But Mozilla argues that such an approach could backfire and further weaken competition, The Register reports.
Last week, U.S. federal prosecutors presented revised proposals to restore competition in the web search market after a court found Google guilty of illegally monopolizing the industry. The DOJ dropped its initial proposal to force Google to sell its artificial intelligence assets, but kept a key provision: a ban on the company paying browsers like Apple and Mozilla to set Google search as the default.
For years, Google has paid huge sums to remain the primary search engine in popular browsers. In 2022 alone, the company paid Apple an estimated $20 billion to maintain its position as the primary search engine in Safari. The Justice Department believes that such payments stifle competition by preventing other search engines from developing.
However, Mozilla, which in 2023 received about 75% of its revenue from deals with Google and other search services, says that such a ban could have serious unintended consequences.
In a statement, Mozilla Foundation President Mark Surman criticized the DOJ's approach, warning that the proposed measures could have negative consequences for the entire browser ecosystem.
"These proposed remedies prohibiting search payments to small and independent browsers miss the bigger picture – and the people who will suffer most are everyday internet users," Surman said. "Independent browsers like Firefox are on the frontlines of protecting consumer privacy, driving browser innovation, and giving people real choice on how they experience the web. But instead of promoting a fair fight, the DOJ’s remedies would tilt the playing field further into the hands of a few dominant players, diminishing consumer choice and weakening the broader internet ecosystem."
Mozilla argues that the ban will disproportionately hit independent browser developers like Firefox, while Apple can easily make up for lost revenue from device sales and its App Store ecosystem. Surman also warns that excluding Google from the paid search market will only hand power to another large corporation, namely Microsoft with its Bing search engine.
Mozilla could theoretically negotiate a new contract with Microsoft to make Bing the default search engine. However, such a deal would likely be less lucrative. Given that Google would be cut off from bidding, Microsoft would have no incentive to offer competitive terms, and smaller search engines simply wouldn’t be able to provide Mozilla with sufficient funding.
This puts Mozilla in a difficult position, as its reliance on paid search remains one of the company's largest sources of revenue.
Mozilla also warns that ending paid search could jeopardize the future of independent browser engines. Gecko, the engine that powers Firefox, is one of only three major browser engines, along with Blink (used in Chrome and Edge) and WebKit (the basis of Safari).
Surman emphasizes that if Mozilla is forced to abandon Gecko, Google will remain the only company developing a cross-platform browser engine, effectively eliminating competition in this area.
"This isn't just about Firefox," Surman said. "If we lose our ability to maintain Gecko, it’s game over for an open, independent web. Look, Microsoft – a $3 trillion company – already gave up its browser engine in 2019 and Opera gave up theirs in 2013. If Mozilla is forced out, Google’s Chromium becomes the only cross-platform browser engine left."
Mozilla also notes that independent browsers are already facing serious challenges, not only due to their dependence on search revenue, but also due to restrictions from large companies, such as Apple's policy that forces all browsers on iOS to use WebKit.