When Google paid web sites to advertise Firefox · leonidasv.com
Having grown up within the 2000s, I really like after I uncover that one thing I thought was banal again then was, in actual fact,
a part of some untold historical past.
I keep in mind a variety of web sites at the moment stated “this web site is best seen with Firefox”, or
“obtain Firefox with Google Toolbar”
banners. I principally ignored these since each web site simply appeared okay in Web Explorer (sorry) and I additionally may
set up the Google Toolbar for IE — ultimately, I might give Firefox an opportunity and find yourself switching, however that’s one other historical past.
Prepared for some nostalgia?
So, now I do know that, in actual fact, it was not from the benevolence of bloggers that Firefox was beneficial, however
as a result of Google was paying them $1 for each consumer they may persuade to obtain the notorious “Firefox with Google Toolbar”
browser since 2005 through an AdSense program.
The Firefox neighborhood received the referral program very well
and even developed scripts to persuade extra individuals to modify to Firefox:
Google additionally sponsored Firefox in its search web page dwelling for a quick time period:
After all, individuals again them thought that this sort of partnership may hurt the open internet, as a result of — *cough*
*cough* — Google had too many conflicts of interest
with internet browsers to be so near considered one of them. How little they know…
Anyway, by 2008 the AdSense referrals program was discontinued,
and getting your customers to obtain Firefox was now not an revenue stream for bloggers. At the moment, Firefox already
had about one-third of the browser market share. It was additionally about the identical time
when Chrome was introduced, however this time Google wager on
more traditional ad-formats,
earlier than going all-in and promoting it on the search page too.