Google pays Firefox $66m
Most users don’t even think about it but each time they search the web using the integrated search bar in browsers such as Firefox and Opera, they are in fact earning money for those organisations.
As one of the more popular browsers on the market, Firefox’s integrated Google search bar has been so successful that it earned the Mozilla Foundation $66 million over the course of 2007. Similar deals with other search engines netted the foundation another $2 million, according to Mozilla’s annual financial statements for the 2007 financial year, released today.
In comparison, the Opera web browser, which also derives much of its revenue from search engine companies, earned around $40 million in the 2007 year. Not all of that was derived from search earnings but a good portion of it is.
Tax crunch
The success of the deal between Mozilla and Google has attracted the attention of the US tax department which is investigating Mozilla’s non-profit status.
At the heart of the issue is the fact that Mozilla earned more than 88% of its annual revenue from just one source: Google. And despite its argument that the earnings should be treated as royalties, its income is in fact part of a commercial agreement with Google.
US tax authorities are, however, apparently querying the tax exemption status the foundation enjoys under its non-profit title.
And the questions are likely to continue as Mitchell Baker, chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation has also announced that Google and Mozilla have just renewed their contract until 2011.
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