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Firefox: Just Another Pawn In the Googleopoly?

Part of Microsoft's antitrust penance was to allow Internet Explorer users to choose their own default search engine. To the delight of competitors like Google and Yahoo, IE users are asked to make their choice immediately after the software is installed or first launched. But in the latest version of Mozilla Firefox, users don't have that same choice--as Google comes pre-installed as the default. And if users go to the drop-down menu to set another engine as their preference, Live Search is mysteriously absent from the list.

"Microsoft is a good search engine that searchers should have access to directly from that search bar," says Danny Sullivan. "By not offering it, Firefox is failing its users out of either financial reasons or spite."

The financial reasons are obvious--as Mozilla has had a long-standing deal with Big G that delivers about 85% of the alternative browser's revenue. But as Sullivan notes, Google fought hard to help ensure that IE users had "choice" when they wanted to start searching, so it's only right that Firefox users get the same freedom. "If Google's all for choice, as I've said before, then Google should be pressuring Firefox to ensure there's consumer choice in that browser, as well," he says.

Read the whole story at Search Engine Land »

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