{"id":643802,"date":"2024-11-09T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/"},"modified":"2024-11-09T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T17:00:00","slug":"as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"#As Firefox turns 20, Mozilla ponders how to restore it to its former glory"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c20998ed0e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c20998ed0e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/#Getting_back_to_growth\" >Getting back to growth<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/#Firefox_AI\" >Firefox AI<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/#What_if_the_Google_search_deal_went_away\" >What if the Google search deal went away?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exactly 20 years ago, Mozilla <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/press\/2004\/11\/mozilla-foundation-releases-the-highly-anticipated-mozilla-firefox-1-0-web-browser\/\">started shipping<\/a> version 1.0 of its <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/new\/\">Firefox browser<\/a>. At the time, you could <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">download<\/a> it or buy a CD-ROM with a guidebook from Mozilla (or maybe get it on one of those free CDs that would come with many magazines at the time). Born out of the ashes of Netscape, Firefox would go on to gain well over 30% of global market share. But that was followed by a period of stagnation, and after the arrival of the faster and lighter Google Chrome, Firefox slowly but surely lost market share. It didn\u2019t help that Mozilla, at the time, seemingly prioritized <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/firefoxosdevices.org\/en\/#type:all|coming-devices:yes\">everything<\/a> but its browser, all while its mobile browser initiatives never quite took off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite everything, Firefox is still going strong, and it is a better browser today than it ever was. Now, Mozilla, which recently said that it wants to refocus on the browser, needs to figure out how to get it back on a growth path.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the occasion of Firefox\u2019s 20th birthday, I talked to Mozilla interim CEO Laura Chambers, who took over from Mitchell Baker earlier this year. Speaking from her home in Australia, Chambers told me at the time that one of the first things she did when she stepped into this role was to \u201cunlock a bunch of money towards Firefox product development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I love about Firefox is that it really provides users with an alternative choice of a browser that is just genuinely designed for them,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have, from its very inception and throughout, really wanted to create a browser that prioritizes people over profit, prioritizes privacy over anything else, and to have that option, the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-getting-back-to-growth\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Getting_back_to_growth\"><\/span>Getting back to growth<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?w=680\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2912838\" style=\"width:366px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=680,454 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=430,287 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=720,480 720w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=668,446 668w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=562,375 562w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=925,617 925w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2154157039.jpg?resize=708,472 708w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-element-caption__text\">Laura Chambers, CEO, Mozilla.<\/span><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Dia Dipasupil\/Getty Images \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been in enough places where people tend to forget about the core business, and they stop investing in it, because they get distracted by shiny things \u2014 and then they regret it,\u201d said Chambers, who previously held executive roles at PayPal, Skype, Airbnb, and Willow Innovations. \u201cI\u2019m very determined that that\u2019s not what we\u2019re going to do here. Firefox is incredibly important, and it is our core. We\u2019ve actually put more investment into it this year and into connecting with our communities, into bringing out and testing features that are positive and creating good experiences for folks. That\u2019s been a huge priority for me and for the company this year, and it\u2019s showing up in the results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She acknowledged that Mozilla doesn\u2019t have the device distribution that benefits many of Firefox\u2019s competitors, especially on mobile, but she did note that the Digital Marks Act (DMA) in Europe \u2014 which means Apple, for example, has to provide a browser choice screen on iOS \u2014 is working.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith the DMA, even though the implementation hasn\u2019t been outstanding, we\u2019re seeing a real shift. When people have the choice to choose Firefox, they\u2019re choosing Firefox,\u201d she said.  \u201cSo on mobile, there\u2019s some good, promising things happening there, because we know, once people get to choose Firefox, they choose us. Because the features are great, the product is great.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To kick-start some of this growth, Mozilla is looking at reaching new, and younger, users. Chambers noted that Mozilla is running a number of marketing campaigns to make people aware of Firefox, especially those who are only now starting to make their first browser choices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With them, she believes, Mozilla\u2019s messaging around privacy lands especially well. \u201cPrivacy is still resonating, right? It always does. Like, if you ask people if they care about privacy, they always say, yes. Now, do they take actions consistent with it? Not always, but the privacy messaging, people get that and appreciate it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, she said, the browser also has to work very well \u2014 and that\u2019s something Mozilla has focused on quite extensively in recent years. And at the same time, the team also has to keep innovating and giving users the features they are looking for. She noted that as part of refocusing on Firefox, Mozilla is running far more user experience experiments in the browser now, for example.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-firefox-ai\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Firefox_AI\"><\/span>Firefox AI<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mozilla is also thinking about how AI will change how people browse the web. There, the organization is mostly looking at giving people choice. It\u2019s starting to build some smaller models into the browser already, mostly around translation, but with Firefox 130, it also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/ai\/help-us-improve-our-alt-text-generation-model\/\">introduced<\/a> a model that automatically adds alt text for PDF images, for example. For all of this work with AI models, Mozilla plans to follow the Open Source Initiative\u2019s guidance for what constitutes an open source model.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the browser can play a really, really powerful role here \u2014 a browser that is designed for your choice and that is designed for your privacy could play a very key role, I think, in the future of Gen AI, especially in a world where there\u2019s models taking actions on your behalf,\u201d she said. \u201cHow do you have transparency into what they\u2019re doing and how they\u2019re making those choices? How do you have a good experience around that? We\u2019re really trying to very much center our thinking around what will the experience be of folks using AI in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She does think, however, that it will still take two to three years before we\u2019ll really see AI have a strong influence on how people will use their browser. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-if-the-google-search-deal-went-away\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_if_the_Google_search_deal_went_away\"><\/span>What if the Google search deal went away?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From a financial perspective, Mozilla is almost completely dependent on its search deal with Google. Since the Department of Justice is now looking at these deals, though mostly because of Google\u2019s deal with Apple, there is a risk that this may also end up hurting Mozilla. Chambers didn\u2019t seem too concerned about this, however. She noted that the scope of this ruling, which is expected soon, is the U.S., while Mozilla is a global organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you spend a second to think about what the Department of Justice is trying to do here, they\u2019re trying to increase competition, right? The reality is that Mozilla is one of the most powerful elements of competition in this market,\u201d she said. \u201cWe actually have our own browser engine. We actually have an alternative <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>. We\u2019re actually one of those very rare technologies [where] we\u2019re sort of a Big Tech company, but we\u2019re doing good stuff on the internet, so our incentives are actually really aligned in this work. And so you\u2019ve got to imagine that as they\u2019re weighing their rulings and considerations, it would not at all be in their best interest to put Mozilla in a bad situation, because that would decrease competition, which is the whole point of the regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One could argue that this puts more trust into the regulatory bodies than they deserve, but Chambers also noted that the team has worked on scenario planning. Mozilla has tried to diversify its revenue, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s Firefox that is keeping the organization afloat. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There can be no doubt, though, that the web would look quite different without Firefox and without Mozilla\u2019s advocacy for an open web ecosystem. And while Mozilla itself may be working through its own problems, now is as good a time as ever to see if Firefox may just be the right browser for you (again). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/11\/09\/as-firefox-turns-20-mozilla-ponders-how-to-restore-it-to-its-former-glory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exactly 20 years ago, Mozilla started shipping version 1.0 of its Firefox browser. At the time, you could download it or buy a CD-ROM with a guidebook from Mozilla (or maybe get it on one of those free CDs that would come with many magazines at the time). Born out of the ashes of Netscape,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":643803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-503265246-1.jpg?resize=1200,801","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[123408,5055,34281,151454],"class_list":["post-643802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-mozilla","tag-apps","tag-firefox","tag-tc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}