Firefox to switch default search from Google to Yahoo

Yahoo will soon be the default search engine on Firefox browsers.

Mozilla CEO Chris Beard announced the new five-year partnership in a post on the company's blog Wednesday.

"Our new search strategy doubles down on our commitment to make Firefox a browser for everyone," Beard wrote. "We believe it will empower more people, in more places with more choice and opportunity to innovate and ultimately put even more people in control over their lives online."

Firefox will make the switch to the new "enhanced Yahoo search" for U.S users in December, though users will still be able to change the default to Google, Bing, eBay, Amazon, Wikipedia or Twitter.


Google has been the default search on Firefox browsers since 2004, a deal which was up for renewal this year, Beard said.

"In evaluating our search partnerships, our primary consideration was to ensure our strategy aligned with our values of choice and independence, and positions us to innovate and advance our mission in ways that best serve our users and the Web," Beard wrote, noting that "one strategy stood out from the rest."

Search has been a big area of focus for Yahoo since Marissa Mayer took over as CEO and she has aggressively pursued Yahoo's investment in contextual search. The former Google executive has been particularly focused on mobile with the goal of decreasing Google's dominance on mobile browsers.

Yahoo's desktop search is currently powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine, a deal that has Mayer has reportedly tried to get out of.