Google Is Practically Begging Firefox Users To Switch Their Default Search Engine

Google Is Practically Begging Firefox Users To Switch Their Default Search Engine
http://searchengineland.com/google-is-practically-begging-firefox-users-to-switch-their-default-search-engine-216770

Google Is Practically Begging Firefox Users To Switch Their Default Search Engine

A new message above Google's search results is the most visible attempt yet at getting Firefox users to switch back to Google.

Matt McGee on March 13, 2015 at 1:53 am

• MORE

It almost looks desperate. Google has placed a big, new message above its organic search results that asks — practically begs — Firefox users to make Google their default search engine.

While searching tonight, I suddenly came across the giant … alert? ad? request? … that you see above. It looks a bit like a Google Onebox, but says “Switch your default search engine to Google” and has a button to “Learn how” and another button that says “No, thanks.”

Danny Sullivan, our founding editor, also tested this and saw the same switch request I saw. And the folks at IPIX Solutions saw it tonight, too, andtweeted about it.

 Follow

IPIX Solutions @ipixsolutions

#Google REALLY wants #Firefox users to change their search engines settings, again prompting, now in search results!!

10:47 PM - 12 Mar 2015

 
•  1414 Retweets
 
•  1313 likes

Why would Google give up the top two-plus inches of its search results page like this? It goes back to the November announcement that Mozilla was dropping Google in favor of Yahoo as the default search engine in its Firefox web browser. Even as the No. 3 browser with about 16 percent market share (according to StatCounter), Firefox still drives a substantial number of searches.

Since the deal was announced, Yahoo’s search share rose from 8.6 percent in November (again, StatCounter estimates) to 10.9 percent in January. According to comScore, Yahoo’s market share in the US jumped from 10.2 percent in November to 11.8 percent in December. More recently, though, there are signs that Yahoo’s market share may have hit a ceiling, at least in terms of the immediate bump from its deal with Mozilla.

The switch request showing tonight isn’t Google’s first attempt to lure back Firefox users. We documented a number of other messages that have been shown to Firefox users — but none of those were placed right inside Google’s search results like this.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt McGee

Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.