Firefox for Desktop dropped from ~244M MAUs in December 2018 to ~198M MAUs in July 2021, down ~46M, as users moved to Chrome and Chromium-based browsers
It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das
Context & Ripple Effects
The loss of ~46M desktop MAUs since December 2018 is the visible half of a longer slide: back in November 2018, Mozilla's revenue had just risen 8% to $562M on an expanded Google-Firefox default-search deal even as Firefox MAUs were already dipping from 300M to 277M year over year. The decline has continued through the Chromium era despite Mozilla shipping a data-driven redesigned Firefox look in June 2021 aimed at winning users back.
First-order effects
Mozilla's core funding mechanism shrinks with every lost user: the search deals that drove its $562M 2017 revenue are priced against Firefox reach, so a smaller install base directly cuts what Google and others will pay.
Second-order effects
Falling share forces Mozilla into revenue diversification outside search — by February 2022 it was explicitly pursuing browser personalization and other lines to gain independence from Google deals, a strategy the MAU decline makes urgent rather than optional.
Third-order effects
With Chrome and Chromium-based browsers absorbing departing Firefox users, web-engine decisions concentrate around one codebase — visible when Firefox, Edge, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi all separately declined to join Google's FLoC ad technology, leaving Chrome to set defaults others must opt out of.
The trend: Desktop browsing is consolidating around the Chromium engine, converting browser choice from an architectural question into a policy one as regulators like the EU's Digital Markets Act become the counterweight Mozilla cites for its own growth.
I don't care if Firefox is declining. It is just ahead when it comes to online safety & privacy. Containers to keep data isolated, very strict privacy protection, not controlled by big data. Saving me many times from online carelessness. https://twitter.com/...
@Techmeme @ankush_soul Throughout the years i've regularly switched to other web browsers and i repeatable find that firefix is consistantly, noticebly better. Considering the privacy and corporate manipulation issues of today, I think its crazy that anyone would use anything but…
I actually moved back to Firefox from Chrome a few years ago. It's waaaaaaaay faster. Plus the Android app supports extensions. I get the built-in tracker blocker + uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger everywhere. https://www.pcgamer.com/...
Firefox Lost Almost 50 million Users: Here's Why It is Concerning - It's FOSS News - https://news.itsfoss.com/... @mozilla - go and give Firefox a(nother) try. I've been using it since it was born and use ungoogled Chromium only if a website doesn't work properly in FF.
Apparently, the Firefox Data portal is getting updates again and some eagle-eyed users have noticed that Firefox MAU have gone down from 244m in Dec 2018 to 198m last month, almost a 50m MAU drop https://data.firefox.com/... https://twitter.com/...