Wait, hold on, everyone – Mozilla thinks Apple, Google, Microsoft should play fair
- Reference: 1706167810
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/01/25/mozilla_apple_google_browser_wars/
- Source link:
Many of the competitive barriers have been discussed for years – in technical circles, and behind closed doors with regulators. During those years, Firefox's 30 percent of the global browser market share slipped steadily. Today, [1]just over three percent of browser users favor Firefox – the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing.
With [2]renewed lobbying to level the browser playing field – and the pending March 6 compliance deadline for [3]Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA) approaching – Mozilla has decided to detail the issues and the harms it feels they cause.
[4]
"For years, Mozilla has engaged in dialog with platform vendors in an effort to address these issues," the development group [5]declared . "With renewed public attention and an evolving regulatory environment, we think it's time to publish these concerns using the same transparent process and tools we use to [6]develop positions on emerging technical standards."
[7]
[8]
Mozilla's concerns are documented in a [9]summary dashboard and GitHub [10]issue tracker that enumerate and explain the technical barriers imposed by rival browser makers that put Firefox at a competitive disadvantage.
At the top of the dashboard – by virtue of alphabetic order and coincidentally by actual importance – is [11]Rule 2.5.6 of the Apple App Store Review Guidelines, which requires that all browsers on iOS use Apple's WebKit rendering engine.
[12]
The consequence of that requirement is that all browsers for iOS are essentially Apple's WebKit under the hood – making it hard for developers to differentiate their products.
[13]Russia takes $13.5M bite out of Apple over in-app purchases
[14]Google is changing how search results appear for EU citizens
[15]Google coughs up $700M in Play Store antitrust suit
[16]UK competition watchdog wins appeal – investigation into Apple will go on
Lack of browser competition and differentiation on Apple's iOS has been a sore point for Mozilla – and for Google, which drives development of the Chromium browser engine that powers both its own Chrome browser and Microsoft's Edge. Or at least it does on every platform bar Apple’s.
Apple's WebKit rule for iOS is one that regulators in the [17]UK and [18]Europe have investigated – and it may not be around much longer.
Other technical obstacles cited by Mozilla have received less attention despite, its claimed, harming competition.
For example, iOS [19]disallows third-party apps from using Safari's multi-process architecture unless they do so through WebKit. Also, iOS [20]doesn't allow the creation of memory regions that are both writable and executable – yet it makes an exception for WebKit and other Apple applications.
[21]
Then there's Apple's iOS [22]accessibility APIs , which Mozilla says are partly undocumented so that other browser-makers have difficulty supporting accessibility web standards.
The list goes on: [23]Messages integration limitations , [24]browser data import limitations , [25]default browser setting and checking limitations , [26]origin-based domain limitations , [27]browser extension limitations , and [28]beta testing limitations .
Google gets called out for failing to allow third-party Android browsers to [29]import browsing data , for sometimes [30]ignoring a user's default browser choice , and for integrating Android with Google Search in a way that makes [31]search results worse when users search with Firefox.
Microsoft is not spared either. The Windows biz stands accused of failing to allow third-party browsers to [32]set themselves as the default browser , for allowing Edge to set itself as the default [33]more easily , and for [34]opening certain features in Edge regardless of the user's choice of default browser.
Further platform parity gaps have been identified in [35]issues posts from members of the internet community.
"People deserve choice, and choice requires the existence of viable alternatives," Mozilla wrote. "Alternatives and competition are good for everyone, but they can only flourish if the playing field is fair. It's not today, but it's also not hard to fix if the platform vendors wish to do so."
Apple, which continues [36]efforts to minimize its obligations under the DMA, did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Google.
Microsoft replied that it had "nothing to share." ®
Get our [37]Tech Resources
[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share#monthly-200901-202306
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/28/apple_apps_challenge/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/26/apple_ios_browser/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZbI-XBEIf6kVi0iAxoMJNwAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/2024/01/19/platform-tilt/
[6] https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZbI-XBEIf6kVi0iAxoMJNwAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZbI-XBEIf6kVi0iAxoMJNwAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://mozilla.github.io/platform-tilt/
[10] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues
[11] https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#software-requirements
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZbI-XBEIf6kVi0iAxoMJNwAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/23/apple_russia_iap_monopoly/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/18/google_search_update_dma/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/19/google_play_store_antitrust_settlement/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/02/uk_cma_wins_appeal_apple/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/02/uk_cma_wins_appeal_apple/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/02/apple_safari_browser/
[19] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/2
[20] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/3
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZbI-XBEIf6kVi0iAxoMJNwAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/4
[23] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/5
[24] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/6
[25] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/9
[26] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/11
[27] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/15
[28] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/16
[29] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/7
[30] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/8
[31] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/12
[32] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/10
[33] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/13
[34] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues/14
[35] https://github.com/mozilla/platform-tilt/issues
[36] https://open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apple-filing-eu-appstores/
[37] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: What “market share”?
The ability to place ads in front of my eyes is a service of value. My browsing habits are also a good of value.
Re: What “market share”?
How much do you get for those ads, and for selling your browsing habits?
Re: What “market share”?
The internet
Re: What “market share”?
I get a web browser, a piece of software that has value.
I have a feeling I'm missing your point. I'm saying that there is exchange of value, so the usage of the "market share" term is appropriate. That was all I wanted to point out.
Are we talking about how much value now, and/or whether the exchange is fair? That's a far more complicated argument.
Re: What “market share”?
Markets include goods and services offered at zero cost. If there are multiple suppliers, and actors willing to make a choice between them, you have a market. Their decisions are simply guided by factors other than up-front cost.
Re: zero cost
Without trade (getting value in return for value), there is no market.
Re: zero cost
Your assumption is that up-front pricing is the only definition of value in a market. It's a generally good approximation of value, but value exchange can also be realised through indirect means.
Re: zero cost
So how much did you pay in those “indirect means” to use your browser, and how much did you receive in return?
Re: zero cost
You're asking me to quantify Mozilla's market strategy. I'm merely explaining that markets can exist without the need for a sticker price on the goods and services offered within that market. The vendors realise value by indirect means, while the consumers realise value by use of the goods and services offered. What those indirect means might be are not for me to explain, because I'm not interested in them and because they are unlikely to have any direct connection to my use of the browser. That's why they're "indirect".
Re: zero cost
This is really confusing. You seem to be claiming that there is no market unless there is money? This is a very weird claim. There are barter systems, there are exchanges of goods and services, there's all kind of immaterial values (time, attention, data, etc.) that get monetized at a later time by third parties. None of that is a "market" by your definition?
I'm not an economist, but I always thought that in order to get a market, all you need is trading and competition. Everything else, including the use of quantifiable value, determines how the market works, but not whether it exists.
Re: zero cost
Yeah, me leaving my old sofa, TV, and random object d'art outside my front door for anyone to take away does not constitute a 'market', even if Joe, over the road, and Mary, next door, are doing the same.
Likewise, me releasing my treasured app for random public download, in exchange for nothing, does not constitute a 'market' in any sensible definition of the term. Nor, does software released by corporate entities in exchange for nothing alter the nonsense of calling such access a 'market'.
Re: What “market share”?
If there is no value in using a particular browser then please explain why the other browser makers are so intent on excluding Firefox.
" the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing."
The impact of having a clearly inferior product probably had something to do with it too.
I've still got Firefox installed, along with Edge and Chrome. FF is set as my default browser, so my saved URLs come up in FF. Which serves to remind me why I don't use FF for web browsing.
Re: " the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing."
It's a far better browser than Chrome or any of its bastard step children. You're just used to dictatorial rubbish and wouldn't understand what's wrong with Chrome. Bloated and intractable. We have much more control over our browsing with Firefox, for example we have a much more powerful extensions interface. Chrome is like Internet Explorer 6 all over again, Google thinks the browser defines the Web.
Firefox is completely free, you can compile and customize the browser and it includes all the codecs you're going to need in the source.
Re: " the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing."
I beg to differ. IMHO, neither in usability and ergonomics, nor in functionality, performance, ease and amount of customizability is Firefox the best, and Firefox kept annoying the heck out of me (and many others) over time with repeatedly introducing unrequested and at best useless, but sometimes idiotic UI changes just for change's sake.
On my Windows work PC, Firefox takes ridiculously long to start, one of the reasons I switched to Chrome there early. On my home and side job Linux systems I have more freedom; I moved to Vivaldi on all of them a few years ago after testing it for a few days and deciding that I won't go back – after 15 years of using Firefox. As much as I'd like to support the only browser that's still competing with Chrome, that doesn't make me use a tool that I don't like anymore.
Re: " the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing."
Which serves to remind me why I don't use FF for web browsing.
Unfortunately your memory is pretty terrible because you forgot again before you posted your comment so nobody is any the wiser as to what you think is wrong with FF, but it can't be that bad because you keep it set as your default browser.
Endgame
We need to start thinking of browsers as modern day cable TV receivers. That's what Google/Apple/Microsoft want them to be - secure content delivery tools for their ad/media businesses. Firefox doesn't have a place in that world.
Mac OS also selectively ignores the default browser rule. I can set FF (or whatever I want) as default but if, for example, I'm in an app like Mail or Notes and I highlight something and right-click to look up on the web then it always opens in Safari.
Welcome to the walled garden concept if 'freedom' - you can have anything you want, as long as the owners get to decide what it is you want.
Kerr-ching!
Microsoft replied that it had "nothing to share."
So true in so many ways
Amazed that FF isn't used more
Does everyone love adverts on their mobile or something? I installed Firefox and uBlock Origin on my mobile and I can actually see the websites rather than just a screenful of adverts. Why isn't everyone else doing this?
Re: Amazed that FF isn't used more
Because most people just accept the default - whatever it is. Partly due to sloth, partly ignorance that there is anything different.
What “market share”?
A “market” is where people exchange goods/services of value, as well as money. Simply downloading some software and using it for free does not constitute a “market”.