Google pays Firefox $66m

how?

hi all, im new to mybroadband so please, play nice :o . umm, i have one grave question about this article, how is a search engine able to generate a profit from a free search?
 
Advertising revenue from click-thru's... so many cents per click adds up in Google's terms...
 
tomatosarefruit said:
Advertising revenue from click-thru's... so many cents per click adds up in Google's terms...
Click to expand...

but don't click thrus only apply after the search results have been obtained and a link henceforth initiated? perhaps i should've phrased my question differntly. does firefox profit from the mere embedded presence of the google search bar in the browser, or does this occur only if a user initiates a search through the google search bar therefore linking to ad content on the search results page? if what tomatosarefruit is correct, then this means that google is paying firefox directly as opposed to advertised service providers as found through searches no?

p.s. thanx for the insight tomatosarefruit
 
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adrianx said:
I don't believe that they are the root of all evil. I believe that they are very, very evil. Then again, which large corporation is not?

The thing that I like most about Windows is that that vast majority of "viruses" are aimed at it. That means that as a Linux user, I'm not very likely to get infected when I surf the internet. So no, I don't want to see M$ disappear off the face of the earth. In a sense, they are keeping me safe. :D
Click to expand...

Good question. Maybe you should move further up to some other African countries, or to North Korea, where those 'evil' Corporations don't exist. Damn them and their unwillingness to give us cool stuff for free. God bless ignorance, right?
 
adrianx said:
You do realise that Google actually runs on Linux servers. So does Wikipedia. They must be really ignorant then...
Click to expand...

Wow, terrible straw man argument right there. You should realise that that is absolutely irrelevant to what you've said previously. Why on earth would Google or Wikipedia be ignorant for using Linux? I didn't for a second say that Linux was awful. Google is a profit-seeking business just like Microsoft. By that definition, they should be just as evil as Microsoft (only slightly less because they're not AS wealthy). They'll use the operating system that is most cost-effective and efficient for their needs. Linux is the suitable choice.
 
What is the 'good cause' you speak of, and how exactly do they oppose evil?
Click to expand...
Open Source
...With Microsoft, if you people do not like their product, the market is open for someone else to try make something better.
...
This is why Microsoft is such a great company. They provide an offering that until now, no one in a free market has been able to match.
Click to expand...
I don't think that the EU would agree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Microsoft_antitrust_case
...Damn them and their unwillingness to give us cool stuff for free. God bless ignorance, right?
Click to expand...
That's exactly what the Open Source community does. They give us cool stuff for free. (I don't think I understand what you were saying there.)
 
To be blunt, that's just because the EU were full of ****. In their eyes, Microsoft are just TOO big. Too good. It's unfair to the little guys because they can't compete.
[commenses playing the world's smallest violin]

With regards to Open Source, the people who develop for it, do so for their own benefit. It's team-work in order to achieve a mutual benefit. They want a different Operating System, so they work together to achieve that. That is their profit. If there was no benefit in it for a particular developer (eg. Linux was of no use to him), he wouldn't develop. With regards to Windows, instead of people having to develop the operating system, Microsoft says "We'll develop the software, saving you the time, and if you like it, all you have to do is pay us for it.". If you don't like it, the market is open for someone else to try develop something better. Up until now, no one has been able to develop the massive, user-friendly framework that Microsoft has. All companies do is cater to the demand that exists, by producing something that people want, therefore saving those people the hassle/time of having to produce it themselves, and all they ask for in return, is money for their time. It's not evil. It's the very source of all that is good in this world. I give Microsoft money for their product that means more to me than the money I gave up to receive it, and they receive profit for their hard work. We both win because we both get what was of greater value to us. Free trade is a beautiful thing.
 
The EU is full of **** - in your eyes.

Anyway, arguing about Linux vs. Windblows is an utter waste of time. This thread is really about the IRS that are after their pound of flesh. Mozilla has made provision for such a scenario, so I don't think that it will bring an end to Firefox as we know it.

It is understandable that Microsoft, Internet Explorer, open source and Firefox came up, but this is one of those arguments that will go around in circles forever.
 
chopsky said:
To be blunt, that's just because the EU were full of ****. In their eyes, Microsoft are just TOO big. Too good. It's unfair to the little guys because they can't compete.
[commenses playing the world's smallest violin]

With regards to Open Source, the people who develop for it, do so for their own benefit. It's team-work in order to achieve a mutual benefit. They want a different Operating System, so they work together to achieve that. That is their profit. If there was no benefit in it for a particular developer (eg. Linux was of no use to him), he wouldn't develop. With regards to Windows, instead of people having to develop the operating system, Microsoft says "We'll develop the software, saving you the time, and if you like it, all you have to do is pay us for it.". If you don't like it, the market is open for someone else to try develop something better. Up until now, no one has been able to develop the massive, user-friendly framework that Microsoft has. All companies do is cater to the demand that exists, by producing something that people want, therefore saving those people the hassle/time of having to produce it themselves, and all they ask for in return, is money for their time. It's not evil. It's the very source of all that is good in this world. I give Microsoft money for their product that means more to me than the money I gave up to receive it, and they receive profit for their hard work. We both win because we both get what was of greater value to us. Free trade is a beautiful thing.
Click to expand...

You are obviously looking at the good points only. But you forget the bad points. Just as you are only looking at the bad points of Telkom as a monopoly.

The good point of Telkom was that they were forced to provide a line to someone where it did not make economically sense to do it. For example farmers. (PS: You will see that this will not happen anymore.)

The bad point of M$ is that as soon as they kill the competition, they stop the R&D. That is why FF had a change. This is also the reason that linux is picking up.

There is never one side to a story. (But in general: I HATE MONOPOLIES which includes M$ and Telkom!)
 
Mozilla deserves every dime and every cent. Not only did they show Microsoft's web browser how awesome they could have been (have they employed programmers instead of the chimps working there) but they also made the web fun with they're wide array of plug-ins. as for the tax man...well screw them, just because of they're financial crisis now they want to peck on on Mozilla ?
 
froot said:
If the Tax Man is concerned, why doesn't Mozilla just pass a lot of the money (but still in such a fashion that they don't run in the negative) to charities?
Click to expand...

Yes fruit, they could maybe donate it to that old Netscape Company...:D
 
zamicro said:
The good point of Telkom was that they were forced to provide a line to someone where it did not make economically sense to do it. For example farmers. (PS: You will see that this will not happen anymore.)
Click to expand...

Except, I don't see that as a good point.I don't expect businesses to act as mindless charities giving a service to whoever needs it, rather than to whoever can afford it.
I'll leave that to the private charities who wish to do so. Businesses can't function and improve unless they do what is economically sound. The more Telkom acts against what is economically sound, the more the rest of us will feel it. Why should many of us have to suffer so that some farmer living in the bundu can have internet?

zamicro said:
The bad point of M$ is that as soon as they kill the competition, they stop the R&D. That is why FF had a change. This is also the reason that linux is picking up.
Click to expand...

But so what? If Microsoft have the poor foresight to limit R&D after they beat their competition, then as the free market dictates, they will be punished for their poor decisions by losing a share in the market as someone else enters to take the reigns (as you've described). Soon enough they'd learn to change their strategy in order to stay ahead. At least they are 'forced' to ensure they are constantly improving to stay ahead of the competition. Telkom on the other hand HAS no competition.

zamicro said:
There is never one side to a story. (But in general: I HATE MONOPOLIES which includes M$ and Telkom!)
Click to expand...

Except, Microsoft EARNS its status. Telkom doesn't. Quite sad you don't see a difference.
 
I use the google search bar a lot in firefox so they deserve I guess, I was a lil disappointed that there wasn't 1 in Chrome though which I thought was a lil weird :confused:
 
Everybody wins here. We get a better browser - free - from the Moz foundation that allows us to be more productive etc. (that integrated search is incredibly useful to me), Google earns money from ad revenues which it uses to further improve its services like search, Google's advertisers foot the bill all round and derive their value from improved targeted marketing to their customers.
 
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