April 26, 2006 Google Places Firefox Ad On Homepage By Antone Gonsalves Courtesy of TechWeb News Google Inc. on Wednesday ran an ad for Firefox on its popular homepage, giving the open-source Web browser a big marketing boost over their joint rival Microsoft Corp. The ad promoted the key advantage supporters claim Firefox has over Microsoft's Internet Explorer -- security. IE, which has more than 85 percent of the market, is a favorite target for hackers and virus writers. The one-line text ad read, "Firefox with Google Toolbar: tabbed browsing, safer surfing," and included a picture of the toolbar on Firefox. Only people using IE could see the ad. "We're super excited about it," Mary Colvig, spokeswoman for Mozilla Corp., said. Mozilla, the for-profit subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, develops and markets the open-source Firefox. Mozilla declined to discuss the ad, referring all questions to Google. A spokeswoman for the Mountain View, Calif., company confirmed Google ran the ad. "Google is promoting Firefox with Google Toolbar because tabbed browsing and safer surfing help provide our users with a great search experience," the spokeswoman said in an email. Google has run promotions before of its products, bundled with third-party offerings, the spokeswoman said. For example, the company has run ads about Google Video that highlighted content from the CBS network and the National Basketball Association. Goggle has had a joint promotional relationship with Mozilla since last year, when the search engine started providing text ads promoting Firefox plus the Google Toolbar to its advertising network of third-party Web sites. The latest ad reflects Google's continuing close relationship with Mozilla. In his blog, Paul Kim, director of product marketing for Mozilla, said "thanks to the marketing team at Google for the support." The normally ad-free Google homepage is known for its clutter-free interface and simplicity, which has always been an attraction for Web surfers in need of a search engine. In March, the page attracted 89.8 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. The vast majority of people visiting Google go to its homepage. Its other domains, such as shopping, local search, etc., attracted a total of 3.1 million unique visitors in March. E-mail This Story Print This Story Reprint This Story Get the latest Developer news, product info, and trends every week.			Mozilla Pulls Major Firefox 2.0 Feature IE7 For XP Beta 2: Has Firefox Met Its Match? Microsoft Ships IE 7 Beta 2, Final XP Version To Beat Vista Opera Takes v9 To Beta, Unveils Widgets Support Change Spells End for Mozilla Firefox 1.0.x Firefox Jumps 10 Percent Bar     Developer Pipeline's Main RSS Feed     Developer Pipeline's Blog RSS Feed VIEW ALL BRIEFING CENTERS Editorial and vendor perspectives Special Report: Are Computers Destroying The Earth? With Earth Day just around the corner, two reporters cross swords over the question of whether computers and technology are helping or hurting the environment. See what they have to say, then vote on who's got it right. Embedded Experts: Fix Code Bugs Or Cost Lives Apple's Boot Camp: Macs Do Windows Microsoft Platforms Chief Talks Co-opetition With Open Source Crash Course: Get a Handle on Web Services Specs and Standards How do recent stories highlighting the ability of Apple's new Intel-based Macs to run Windows as well as Mac OS X affect your view of Macs as development platforms? Macs that can run Windows and OS X? Gimme!     39% Yawn. No thanks.     22% It all comes down to price point. Count me as maybe.     17% Ha. If it doesn't run zOS or Solaris, forget it...     12% Apple? Never! TRS-80 RULEZ!     10% E-fficiency: Web App IDEs Want to give your e-business a competitive edge? Turbo-charge your development projects with one of these Web application development IDEs. Web Site Development Made Easy A "Class" Act: Software IDEs