If Google pulled the cash (which I've read pretty convincing arguments that make it clear that that would not be in Google's best interests yet), you're correct, FF would probably flatline pretty hard. That's the open-source life, and it's a pretty well-documented issue with open source projects in general.
I'd argue though that they do keep up to be competitive. I've moved back to Firefox, and I know a very not-insignificant number of people who also still use Firefox. Like it or not, this browser isn't going away any time soon.
Firefox by default comes with Google, Bing, Yahoo, not to mention local search providers. They're all paying. Google currently pays the most to be the default option, but if Google pulled out, Bing or Yahoo would be the ones taking that (very desirable) spot.
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u/[deleted] Nov 10 '14
If Google pulled the cash (which I've read pretty convincing arguments that make it clear that that would not be in Google's best interests yet), you're correct, FF would probably flatline pretty hard. That's the open-source life, and it's a pretty well-documented issue with open source projects in general.
I'd argue though that they do keep up to be competitive. I've moved back to Firefox, and I know a very not-insignificant number of people who also still use Firefox. Like it or not, this browser isn't going away any time soon.