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Mozilla drops Yahoo search for Google with new Firefox Quantum browser release

After a three year partnership with Yahoo, Mozilla has switched their default search provider for Firefox back to Google.

Barry Schwartz on November 14, 2017 at 4:08 pm

Mozilla announced that they have terminated their search deal with Yahoo and that their new version of the Firefox browser, named Firefox Quantum, will feature Google as the default search provider.

“As part of our focus on user experience and performance in Firefox Quantum, Google will also become our new default search provider in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” Mozilla said in a statement.

Three years ago, in 2014, Mozilla partnered with Yahoo to become the default search engine on their popular browser. Previously, Google was the default on Firefox browsers.

Mozilla Chief Business and Legal Officer Denelle Dixon told Techcrunch:

We exercised our contractual right to terminate our agreement with Yahoo! 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. We believe there are opportunities to work with Oath and Verizon outside of search. As part of our focus on user experience and performance in Firefox Quantum, Google will also become our new default search provider in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan. With over 60 search providers pre-installed as defaults or secondary options across more than 90 language versions, Firefox has more choice in search providers than any other browser.

Here is a screen shot of the search provider settings, showing Google has the default, in the new browser:

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.