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Exactly 20 years ago, Mozilla Charging has started Version 1.0 of it Firefox browser. At that time, you could download it or buy an instruction manual CD from Mozilla (or perhaps get it on one of the free CDs that came with many magazines at the time). Firefox was born from the ashes of Netscape, and has gone on to gain over 30% global market share. But a period of stagnation followed, and after the arrival of the faster and lighter Google Chrome, Firefox slowly but surely lost market share. It didn’t help that Mozilla seemed to prioritize it at the time Everything But its browser, all while mobile browser initiatives haven’t quite taken off.
Despite everything, Firefox is still going strong, and it’s a better browser today than ever before. Now, Mozilla, which recently said it wants to refocus on the browser, needs to figure out how to get it back on a growth path.
In honor of Firefox’s 20th birthday, I spoke with Mozilla’s 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 took on the role was “launch a bunch of money to develop the Firefox product.”
“What I love about Firefox is that it gives users an alternative option to a browser designed specifically for them,” she said. “We really wanted, from its inception and all along, to create a browser that prioritizes people over profit, that prioritizes privacy over everything else, and to have that choice, that choice.”
Back to growth
“I’ve been in enough places where people tend to forget about the core business, stop investing in it, because they get distracted by shiny things — and then they regret it,” said Chambers, who previously held executive positions at PayPal. Skype, Airbnb, and Willow Innovations. “I’m very determined that’s not what we’re going to do here. Firefox is so important, it’s our core. We’ve actually invested more in it this year and in connecting with our communities, in highlighting and testing positive features and creating good experiences for people. That’s been a big priority for For me and the company this year, and it shows in the results.
She acknowledged that Mozilla doesn’t have the hardware distribution that benefits many of Firefox’s competitors, especially on mobile, but noted that Europe’s Digital Markup Act (DMA) is in place — which means Apple, for example, must provide a browser option. Screen on iOS – working.
“With DMA, even though the implementation hasn’t been great, we’re seeing a real shift. When people have the option to choose Firefox, they choose Firefox,” she said. “So, on mobile, there are some good and promising things happening there.” , because we know that once people choose Firefox, they choose us. And because the features are great, the product is great.”
To jumpstart some of that growth, Mozilla is looking to reach new and younger users. Chambers noted that Mozilla is running a number of marketing campaigns to educate people about Firefox, especially those who are only now starting to make their first browser choices.
With their presence, she believes, Mozilla’s messaging around privacy stands up particularly well. “Privacy still resonates, doesn’t it? It always has. For example, if you ask people if they care about privacy, they will always say, yes. Now, do they take actions consistent with that? Not always, but privacy messages, people understand and appreciate them.” “.
Of course, the browser has to work very well — something Mozilla has focused on extensively in recent years, she said. 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 the refocus on Firefox, Mozilla is doing more user experience experiments in the browser now, for example.
Firefox AI
Mozilla is also thinking about how artificial intelligence will change how people browse the web. There, the organization is mostly looking to give people a choice. I actually started creating some smaller models in the browser, mostly around translation, but with Firefox 130, it’s more foot A form that automatically adds alternative text to PDF images, for example. For all this work with AI models, Mozilla plans to follow the Open Source Initiative’s guidelines for what constitutes an open source model.
“I think the browser can play a really powerful role here — a browser that is designed for your choice and that is designed for your privacy can play a very key role, I think, in the future of Gen AI, especially in a world where there are models taking actions on your behalf,” she said. “How do you have transparency into what they do and how they make those choices? How do you have a good experience about that? We’re really trying to focus our thinking very much around the experience of people using AI in the future.
However, she believes it will take two to three years before we really see AI having a strong impact on how people use their browser.
What if your Google search deal ends?
Financially, Mozilla relies almost entirely on its search deal with Google. And since the Department of Justice is now looking into these deals, though mostly due to Google’s deal with Apple, there’s a risk that this could also hurt Mozilla. However, Chambers doesn’t seem too concerned about this. She noted that the scope of this ruling expected soon is the United States, while Mozilla is a global organization.
“When you spend a second thinking about what the Department of Justice is trying to do here, they’re trying to increase competition, right? And the fact is that Mozilla is one of the strongest elements of competition in this market. “We actually have our own browser engine. We actually have alternative technology. We’re actually one of those very rare technologies (where) we’re kind of a big tech company, but we do good things online, so our incentives are really aligned with that work. And so you have to imagine that as they weigh their judgments and considerations, it would never be in their interest to put Mozilla at a disadvantage, because that would reduce competition, and that’s the whole point of systems.”
One could argue that this puts more trust in regulators than they deserve, but Chambers also noted that the team worked on scenario planning. Mozilla has tried to diversify its revenue, but ultimately, it’s Firefox that keeps the organization afloat.
However, there can be no doubt that the web would look very different without Firefox and without Mozilla’s support for an open web ecosystem. And while Mozilla itself may be working on its own issues, now is as good a time as ever to find out if Firefox is the right browser for you (again).
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