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How come Firefox uses Google as default search engine?

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If Firefox is all about privacy, how come Firefox uses Google as default search engine? It's like trying to avoid being spied and hiring the NSA to help you.

I don't understand why Firefox hasn't chosen Duckduckgo or other instead. Makes it appear fishy to me... Unless you get money from Google...

If Firefox is all about privacy, how come Firefox uses Google as default search engine? It's like trying to avoid being spied and hiring the NSA to help you. I don't understand why Firefox hasn't chosen Duckduckgo or other instead. Makes it appear fishy to me... Unless you get money from Google...

Chosen solution

Mozilla actually wanted to get away from Google being a default search engine in many Firefox locales that had it.

In 2014 Yahoo was default search engine for many locales instead of Google. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/11/19/promoting-choice-and-innovation-on-the-web/

In 2017 due to issues Mozilla was having with Yahoo they needed a new default search engine so Mozilla reluctantly went back to Google in place of Yahoo. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-google-as-default-search-provider-in-the-u-s-canada-hong-kong-and-taiwan/

Then shortly after as of Firefox 57.0 and later Mozilla dropped Yahoo completely due to lawsuit and such as mentioned in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/712925

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All Replies (5)

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We can change the default search engine. Go to the preferences and click search.(type about:preferances#search in address bar and hit enter) Then scroll down to the Default Search Engine section and click the drop-down menu where it instructs the user to Choose the default search engine to use in the address bar and search bar.

Modified by Senali Madawala

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I didn't ask HOW to change the search engine, I asked HOW COME a privacy concerned browser use Google as a default search engine. It's like hiring the NSA to protect you from being spied.

Modified by josuefebles

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That's all are Deals for the future of Mozilla... ;) If we want we can change that easily... I also personally recommend duck duck go...

"Mozilla, a non-profit corporation, historically has earned most of its revenue from search. As CNET reported at the time Mozilla switched to Yahoo in the US, its 2012 revenues were $311m. Newer regional search deals with Google, Baidu, Yahoo, and Yandex helped bump Mozilla revenues to $421m by 2015."

Modified by Harindu Lakshan

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Seçilmiş Həll

Mozilla actually wanted to get away from Google being a default search engine in many Firefox locales that had it.

In 2014 Yahoo was default search engine for many locales instead of Google. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/11/19/promoting-choice-and-innovation-on-the-web/

In 2017 due to issues Mozilla was having with Yahoo they needed a new default search engine so Mozilla reluctantly went back to Google in place of Yahoo. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-google-as-default-search-provider-in-the-u-s-canada-hong-kong-and-taiwan/

Then shortly after as of Firefox 57.0 and later Mozilla dropped Yahoo completely due to lawsuit and such as mentioned in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/712925

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Ok, I get it. It's a matter of money.

Firefox uses Google, a totally-no-privacy-at-all search engine, as default because they get money from them. It's like Greenpeace taking money from Coca-Cola.

It kind of stinks, but that's the way it goes.

Thank you all for your answers.