Google Toolbar and Firefox 5 | The Digital Clicks Blog
Google has been making great leaps in the social and Internet marketing realms recently and is seemingly refining its output to create an inclusive Internet package with the advent of Google+. Google's efforts are also 'exclusive' as many of their services are tackling already established services within various niches. Firefox’s Google Toolbar (GTB) has been one of the casualties, with Google announcing that Firefox5 would not be receiving an updated version of the service, prompting many users to express their discontentment. The reason given was that Firefox 5 already has many of the features offered by GTB built in, rendering the Google add-on redundant. Google even released a blog suggesting the adoption of add-ons similar to the ones not innate to Mozilla’s browser. A subject of confusion, though, was the loss of user data that Google would incur when halting GTB integration. Google’s policy reserved the right to collect information about the browsing habits of those using Firefox if they were also running Google Toolbar. Turning a blind eye to this information suggests that it was not proving to be particularly useful or that it was a manageable loss in the name of a “bigger picture.” While many of the features offered by GTB are available or easily replaced with Firefox add-ons, suggestions as to the motive behind the removal of the service ranged from “Google is trying to coerce Firefox users into adopting Chrome” to “Mozilla’s plans to release a mobile OS (“Boot to Gecko”) are a threat to Google’s upcoming Chrome OS." Google has previously been a substantial source of revenue for the Mozilla Foundation, as they have received funds for the integration of the toolbar and Google search referrals. The removal of this revenue could stunt the Foundation’s progress. Although Google’s reasoning is solid—Chrome doesn't support the Google toolbar—removing support from a rival browser seems like an obvious step towards expanding Chrome’s growth. Reports have suggested that Chrome is the fastest-growing browser at present, so continuing to fund a rival browser (and potential rival in the OS market) would seem counterproductive to Google’s apparent aim to offer inclusive services to Internet consumers and Internet marketers alike.