Google Desperately Requests Firefox Users to Switch Their Default Search Engine

Google’s recent ‘request’ (read ‘intrusive ad’) is one its latest attempts to lure Firefox users to switch their default search engine to Google.

The big G looks kind of silly doing it, and considering they’ve sacrificed a good 2-inch slot at the top of its search engine results page they must be pretty desperate for the traffic. Google does want Firefox users to change their default search engine from Yahoo! to Google.

Let’s look more into it. You will find that there is a lot more to it than just good ol’ competition.

Why Firefox Users?

All of it actually goes back to a November announcement, in which Mozilla announced that it will drop Google as its primary search engine, in favour of Yahoo!

This arrangement was expected to bring Yahoo! millions of extra search queries each and every month. You can read more about it here. But the point here is that those extra search queries could have gone to Google instead of Yahoo, if it wasn’t for that November announcement. Now, Google is trying to bring that traffic back.

According to some estimates, since the deal between Yahoo! and Mozilla, Yahoo’s search engine traffic market share has increased substantially. It was approximately 8.6% in November, but since its share has increased to 10.9%.

The Reactions?

Many people are reporting and commenting about this new, more intrusive ad request. Some comments have been about appreciating the targeted marketing technique, while others are just furious of Google again being intrusive and invading their privacy and internet-surfing experience.

Here are a few reactions that you should see:

What Does It Mean for Your Online Business?

It is actually quite simple.

Different search engines rank websites differently. And if your website gets most of its traffic through Firefox users, you might have to look into optimising your website for Yahoo! too.

Moreover, also pay attention on how much traffic Google actually manages to take back from these marketing tactics. If you keep a keen eye on Yahoo’s search engine share in the upcoming months, you will have a great idea of the trend.