Those of you that follow the Ubuntu development mailing lists may have already come across this news, but it has been announced that Ubuntu will change the default search provider in Firefox from Google to Yahoo!. This is based on a revenue sharing agreement between Canonical and Yahoo!, allowing Canonical to continue to support the infrastructure required to continue to develop the distribution.
With this change, whatever your search bar default is will also match your default start page. If your search default is Google, your start page will be Google. If it is set to Yahoo!, your start page will also be Yahoo!.
Personally, I like the idea of Canonical continuing in its goal of becoming a profitable, successful business. More money for Canonical means more developers, which means continued improvements and stability.
On the other hand, it has been years since I’ve used anything other than Google for web searches. It think it would feel very foreign to use something else.
Perhaps I’ll change my default search to Yahoo! for the rest of the week, just to see what the change will be like.
What do you think about this change? Will you change your default search back to Google? Stick with Yahoo! and help support Canonical? Use a different browser altogether?
No reference links
@Captain Canuck
I’ve updated the article to include a link to the mailing list archive.
I wouldn’t mind switching to Yahoo just to help Cannonical’s revenue. Even if it’s just for the 1st time.
Meh. I remove the “Ubuntu Firefox Modification” addon anyway. I absolutely abhor trackers.
The problem is that Microsoft made a deal with Yahoo! and now Yahoo! is using Microsoft’s Bing search engine, if Ubuntu will be using Yahoo! as a search provider, they will be actually helping Microsoft to become a monopoly over the search engines.
Or, another way to look at it, is that they’ll be using Microsoft’s money to develop Ubuntu. How’s that for irony.
I want Y!ahoo to support Voice/Video !!
Gyachi works but gets booted off easily.
I think I just change my search back to google! I use to use yahoo in the past, but, their services just suck now! Every once in while I try out yahoo and then suddenly remember why I changed all my service over to google, IT JUST WORKS AS ADVERTISED!
Hmmm this means another “first thing to do after a clean install” – get rid of yahoo and put google back.
@Christer Edwards
Well, if you want to trust Microsoft for your search results, to increase their capturing of information on you, and also increase their pricing power on advertizers, I think the joke is on the Linux user listening to the Canonical employee taking Microsoft’s money.
I am reminded of an unethical monopolist at play where they give out a bit of candy until they get the control they are after.
BTW, is this money going to go to Ubuntu to help spread even more of the Microsoft-friendly technologies and APIs like mono?
There is a little more I wrote on this thread:
http://boycottnovell.com/2010/01/27/ubuntu-and-msft-search/#comment-79430
I understand business risks, but I also understand user risks in supporting businesses whose goals and risk-taking may not be aligned with mine.
Perhaps Mark S will want to get an early start on a new company that decides to play the wholesome card a little more carefully.
I mean no disrespect. The important point is to distinguish what is a good risk for someone in Mark’s position (or in the position of his supporters) to take vs. a good risk for me to take as a user wanting to preserve FOSS and push back firmly the major impediment on user freedom that is Microsoft.
When Ubuntu acquired all the Microsoft fanbois, plants no doubt by Microsoft, in the Development area and embraced Mono, threw out Gimp, shouted down discussion on the forums, I began looking into Fedora.
Now, with this announcement, I’ll be moving to Fedora for sure.
They should change the default search to ixquick which is a meta search engine that does not collect any user info plus you can use it securely with https.