If you are currently using Firefox and your default search engine has changed recently, you may have been selected for Mozilla’s final search engine work. From time to time, Mozilla conducts studies to collect data in order to improve the user experience. The most recent of these studies turned out to be the change of the browser’s default search engine from Google to Bing.
Until now, this change went largely unnoticed, probably because it only affected less than one percent of desktop Firefox users. Work is expected to continue through 2022, which will enable Mozilla to “better understand the data on whether or how desktop Firefox usage will change when the default search engine changes.”
Users whose search engine changes can return to Google
If your default search engine has been changed without your permission, you can revert to your previous preference by going to “Settings” from the three-bar icon in the upper right corner. Next, click “Search” in the left column and search for the “Default Search Engine” section. Once you find the section, select the search engine you want to use.
Firefox default search engines have mostly been either Google or Yahoo. Before signing with Yahoo in 2014, Firefox’s default search engine was Google. Yahoo’s deal with Mozilla was supposed to last until 2023, but when Verizon bought Yahoo, Mozilla had a chance to return to Google.
What type of contract Mozilla has with Google has never been confirmed, but the deal will run until 2023, according to reports. The cost of the deal between both companies is estimated to be between $400 million and $450 million annually.
41969
