Google has reclaimed its place as the default search engine on Mozilla Corp’s Firefox, Internet browser in the United States and other regions amazing Yahoo by canceling its deal.
In a statement given in media, Google confirmed the move but have not disclosed revenue-sharing terms of the agreement between two. Google’s growing spending to be the primary search provider on apps and devices such as Apple Inc’s iPhone has been a major investor concern.
Denelle Dixon, chief business and legal officer of Mozilla informed in a statement that now on, Google will be Firefox’s default search provider on desktop and mobile in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
He said, “based on a number of factors, including doing what’s best for our brand, our effort to provide quality web search and the broader content experience for our users,” adding, “We believe there are opportunities to work with Oath and Verizon outside of search.”
Till now, Yahoo was the default in the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Charles Stewart, a spokesman for Verizon’s Oath unit, which oversees Yahoo said in a statement, “We are surprised that Mozilla has decided to take another path, and we are in discussions with them regarding the terms of our agreement.”
Till 2014, for a decade, Google had been Firefox’s worldwide search provider. But then it was limited only for Europe, while regional rivals such as Yahoo, Russia’s Yandex and China’s Baidu Inc replaced it at other places.
Yahoo paid Mozilla $375 million in 2015 and said that it would pay at least the same amount annually through 2019, as per the regulatory filings.
Yahoo and Google are about to recoup placement fees by selling ads alongside search results and collecting valuable user data. Google had conveyed in October that contract changes drove a 54 percent increase in such fees to $2.4 billion in the third quarter.
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