Google is to be more strongly restricted in the USA. However, Mozilla’s CFO Eric Muhlheim explains that this could also have serious consequences for other projects, such as Mozilla Firefox. This is because Mozilla is heavily reliant on payments from Google.
In the USA, the Department of Justice is examining whether Google has a monopoly with its products. In addition to the discussion about whether Google has to sell its browser Chrome, it is also about Google currently paying other browsers to set Google as their default search engine.
Mozilla’s CFO Eric Muhlheim has now stated that the abolition and restriction of Google’s search monopoly could also pose a significant problem for Firefox (via theverge.com).
Mozilla is currently heavily reliant on payments from Google
What is the current situation? Currently, Google pays other browsers to integrate Google as the default search engine in their software. When you start your Firefox, Google is immediately offered to you as the search engine. Although Google is a direct competitor to Mozilla and Firefox, ironically, the company is heavily dependent on payments from Google.
According to Eric Muhlheim, the CFO of Mozilla’s for-profit branch, which in turn financially supports the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, Firefox accounts for about 90 percent of Mozilla’s revenue. About 85 percent of this revenue comes from the contract with Google, he added.
To lose this revenue all at once would mean that Mozilla would have to make “significant cuts throughout the company,” Mühlheim said, warning of a “downward spiral” that could occur if the company had to reduce investments in the product development of Firefox, making it less attractive to users. Muhlheim concluded:
We would really be fighting for our survival.
How significant is Firefox currently? According to Statista.com, Firefox’s market share was about 6% in March 2025. In comparison, Google Chrome holds 65% of the market share.
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