FIrefox Is Getting Big

Not long ago I wrote an article about Firefox reaching the 400 million download mark. This was an impressive feat and an even more impressive story. Even though it is an open source browser the frisky little fox is making some serious bank. According to an article in The New York Times, Firefox reported $66 million in revenue, 85% of which came from Google.

From Google? Yep, they have a royalty contract with Firefox that has allowed this huge influx of cash. The New York Times is asking if the money and the success could spoil the principles that Mozilla was founded on. Currently the Mozilla corporation has in excess of $74 million in assets and they don't seem to be giving too much away in the form of grants. Other than paying their CEO $500,000 + annually, what are they, a non-profit organization, going to do with all that cash? "When the connection with Google was revealed more than a year ago, the question on popular tech Web sites like Slashdot.org was whether Mozilla was acting as a proxy in Google’s larger war with Microsoft and others." So is Mozilla hording a war chest to launch some kind of big initiative? At the point where Firefox overtakes IE as the preferred browser maybe we will know what is actually in store.

Tim Wu, a law professor from Columbia University says, "“We’re living in a cold war between open and closed systems, and Google is happy to lend support to entities that it sees as allies...”

With Google gaining ground every day in terms of search numbers, stock price and revenue, it will be interesting to see what develops in the Firefox camp over the next 5 years.

Your thoughts?