Mozilla to end partnership with Google, strikes Firefox deal with Yahoo

Mozilla Corporation and Yahoo have announced a "strategic five-year partnership" agreement. The deal makes Yahoo the default search experience for Firefox on mobile devices and PCs.

The new deal replaces a longstanding partnership between Mozilla and Google which concludes at the end of this month after 10 years. The most recent three-year renewal of that agreement paid Mozilla $300 million a year.

As part of the pact, the announcement says, "Yahoo will introduce an enhanced search experience for U.S. Firefox users which is scheduled to launch in December 2014. It features a clean, modern and immersive design that reflects input from the Mozilla team."

The announcement also mentions, "a framework for exploring future product integrations and distribution opportunities to other markets."

According to Mozilla CEO, Chris Beard :

“Today we are announcing a change to our strategy for Firefox search partnerships.  We are ending our practice of having a single global default search provider. We are adopting a more local and flexible approach to increase choice and innovation on the Web, with new and expanded search partnerships by country.

The only new international search partner announced today is Yandex Search in Russia. Baidu will continue to be the default search partner for China, with Google, Bing, Youdao, Taobao and "other local options" available in China. For now at least, Google will continue to be the default search choice in the rest of the world, and it will continue to power the Safe Browsing and Geolocation features in Firefox.”

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