These last days, I've been collecting links to articles about Firefox 1.5 being released, and I've not seen yet one discussing what seems to me like a very big deal, which is the new partnership with Yahoo!. Being based in Europe and not being a Mozilla Corp. employee, I don't have a lot of information about this deal, but reading Mitchell's blog entry about 1.5 gives us more information beyond what's described in the press release:
With Firefox 1.5 we're beginning a new search relationship with Yahoo in Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea as part of our strategic goal of helping people access a range of quality services through Firefox. Versions in these languages will have a Firefox start page powered by Yahoo and Yahoo as the first search option. Our search partnership with Google continues in the Americans and Europe.
I think it's good news in several ways. First, it's good for the user, as Yahoo, I was told, has significantly better market share in these countries than Google (whether market share is actually a good indicator of product quality is another story, as we may have counter-examples *cough*browser market*cough*).
So, offering a more relevant search engine for these markets is good is good for the consumers, but it's also good for the Mozilla project itself to have more large partners on its side. Google has been the default search engine for some time, and is helping the Mozilla project quite a bit. Seeing Yahoo! doing the same by stepping up is indeed a Good Thing. This warm feeling has something to do with eggs not being in a single basket, along with the fact that it may reassure suspicious minds who imagine that Google could have too much influence on the Mozilla project.
