How Does Mozilla Firefox Make Money

Mozilla Firefox is a web browser, which was developed by Mozilla Foundation. It works on cross-platform operating system and Gecko layout engine. The Firefox project was initiated by Dave Hyatt, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross. The latest stable version of Mozilla Firefox is 6.0.2. Mozilla Firefox is the second most widely used web browser in the world after Internet Explorer, having around 25.5% of total users. Germany and Poland are the countries where Mozilla Firefox is more popular than any other countries in the world.



Evolution of Mozilla Firefox
Netscape Navigator, which was published in December 1994, quickly became a very popular web browser, as it was one of the first browsers to work in Graphical User Interface (GUI). In 2008, Netscape got discontinued and it was distributed to AOL customers. During 1998, the source of Netscape became an open software, and it was managed by Mozilla organization. But at that time, the original web browser owned by Mozilla was not popular. In 2004, Mozilla dubbed it's web browser Mozilla Firefox and added effective features to it, thereby quickly gained huge popularity. The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization, whereas the Mozilla corporation which is a subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation, is a taxable entity. But how does it earn money?

How does Mozilla Firefox Earn Money?
The answer to this question doesn't need a big explanation. It can be answered in just one word ~ Google. Mozilla gets paid by Google for the queries searched by the users in Google search engine through Firefox browser. Also, when you click on Google Ads in Firefox browser, a good percentage share of money goes to Firefox. In return, Firefox pays its gratitude by setting Google as the default web page in its homepage, based on the agreements they made with Google. In 2009, Mozilla Foundation generated an income of $104 million. It is really not clear whether Firefox gets its revenue from any other sources, but it is definite that, Google is Firefox's biggest sponsor or client. The amount of money paid by Google to Firefox, for the queries searched by a user in Firefox, is not publicly disclosed.

Amazon search also helps them to get some affiliate payments. Firefox stores, is also one of the ways by which Firefox generates some income. It sells Mozilla Firefox branded accessories and t-shirts, and makes some money out of it. Some of the other revenue generators of Firefox are Yahoo, Yandex, eBay and Creative Commons. Partnership with companies generates millions of money every year for Mozilla Firefox. It was estimated that the revenue income of Firefox is approximately $72 million. When asked about this estimation to Chris Blizzard, who is one of the board members of Mozilla Corporation, he said "though not off by an order of magnitude."

Google and Mozilla Firefox Relationship Going to Breakup?
Almost 90% of the total income of Mozilla Foundation comes from Google. Even Google promoted Firefox in YouTube, before it released it own product Google Chrome. We all know that, Google Chrome is gaining more popularity nowadays and is a very good competitor of Mozilla Firefox. Since 2004, Mozilla Firefox and Google had a productive relationship, with a contract between them, which extends till November 2011. But, will the contract between Google and Firefox end because of Google Chrome? The answer is we don't know. But, considering the fact that Google is a giant search engine, spends less amount on Firefox, as compared to its total income and also it is unlikely that Google will let Bing to become a default browser in Firefox, without fighting the battle.

Use of Computers in Agriculture

Applications of Computing Technologies in Agriculture

In today's times, agriculture is not just about crop production or livestock farming and associated activities. The challenges brought forth by ecological factors affecting the environment need to be a major consideration for any kind of farming activity. Farmers need to preempt environmental impact due to climate change and this is where modern technology comes to the rescue.

Farmland Assessment
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are being used for developing ranking systems that evaluate land and provide a site assessment to aid what is now known as precision agriculture. These hi-tech, interactive systems provide information based on a variety of factors such as soil conditions, drainage and slope conditions, soil pH and nutrient status, etc. Prior to the use of these systems, farmers were often in the dark about soil output, and unpredictable weather conditions affecting crop quality and profitability. Precision agriculture provides farmers with control by predicting vital information including fertilizer application and problems with drainage, insects, and weeds. Most government websites provide this kind of information free of cost, covering agricultural land masses across the United States. Global Positioning System (GPS) based technologies also help to monitor irrigation, field mapping, soil sampling, tractor guidance and crop scouting. This kind of technology equips farmers with enough information to increase crop yield in a manner that is consistent with the best environmental practices for sustainable agriculture.

Autonomous Farm Equipment and Tractors
Automated farm equipment, needless to say, scores over human controlled equipment in terms of consistency and reliability. Engine and machine functions such as transmission and hydraulic power output are controlled using microchips built into the equipment. Guidance technology is already being widely used in self-propelled equipment to aid crop seeding and fertilizer application. Automated feeding systems, computerized milk collection and milking machines have been around since the late 20th century, resulting in better economic yield for the dairy industry as well as livestock production. Automated tractors are probably not far away.

Farm Software
With regard to livestock farming, ready-made computer applications are available to track individual animals, storing and evaluating information such as age, health records, milk production, offspring productivity, and reproductive cycle status. This is often called herd recording. Similarly, most farm accounting software and other computer applications in agriculture provide services for record keeping, simulation of prediction-based models using that data, revenue and productivity estimation and reporting to aid in making decisions. Most farm software vendors provide you with an option to customize their applications to the specific needs of your farm or ranch.

Internet Forums, Social Networking and Online Knowledge Bases
Any business in the world that you can think of, has benefited from the advent and global reach of the Internet and related communication technologies (mobile computing, e-commerce etc.). Agriculture is no different. Imagine leveraging the power of the Internet to connect with farmers, agriculturists and agricultural scientists and other experts spread across the globe from the comfort of your own farmland or ranch. There are several forums and social networking sites on the Internet where farmers can connect with other farmers and farming experts and exchange know-how. In addition, there are several learning repositories serving as knowledge bases to provide information on a wide variety of agricultural topics. These avenues serve to reduce the rural digital divide, influence public policies, foster partnerships and connect all stakeholders across the agricultural value chain. For instance, a farmer can easily seek out and connect with an agricultural entrepreneur and begin the exchange of ideas or business proposals. Information such as price review for grain and livestock, pest information, real-time weather information (precipitation, temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, soil moisture and soil temperature) in any part of the world is literally available on one's fingertips.

E-agriculture
An emerging field of agricultural practices, e-agriculture focuses on coming up with innovative ways and best practices to use the existing information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable agricultural development and food safety standards, particularly in rural areas. E-agriculture encompasses other related technological fields such as agricultural informatics, agricultural development and business. It aims to deploy all available technologies (computers, mobile computing, satellite systems, smart cards) for the empowerment of farmers and strengthening of partnerships across the food value chain.


The uses of computers in agriculture do have some real constraints such as, the lack of hardware and software infrastructure, training and skills, and research priorities. However, once these are overcome, the use of computers transcends automation and software application. In fact, it could be instrumental in bridging the rural digital divide and bringing prosperity to agriculturists not only in the United States, but also in other developing and emerging economies around the world.