Mozilla published objections to the recommendations put forth by the US Department of Justice in the antitrust proceedings where Google was identified as a monopolist in the search systems market. The recommendations included a ban on all payments to browser developers for directing traffic to a search engine. Mozilla argues that if approved, this proposal would negatively impact independent browsers that rely on agreements with search engines. It would hinder competition in the search market and make it harder for browsers to compete against dominant corporations like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
There are currently three competitive engines – Chromium, Gecko, and Webkit. Mozilla’s main source of funding comes from an agreement with the Google search engine, so a ban on search deductions would likely lead to the GECKO engine and its associated browsers ceasing to exist. This could result in another major player, such as Microsoft, taking on the role of a monopolist with the suppression of independent competitors who promote browsers. If Mozilla were to disappear, Chromium would be the sole cross-platform browser engine remaining.