And the less said about the mid-2010s Firefox OS phones, the better. The company has inserted ads into Firefox's URL bar. An encrypted file-sharing service was shut down after being used to spread malware. However, some of these new bets haven’t worked out and can seem at odds with Firefox’s wider privacy aims. That independence from Google is key to creating a “healthier” business model. Mozilla’s combined subscription and ad revenue rose from $14 million in 2019 to $24 million in 2020, and the company says it expects 2021’s financial results to show new products contributing 14 percent of its revenue.

“It's not super reasonable for Firefox to expect to win back even any browser share at this point.” Another former Mozilla employee, who also asked not to be named for fear of career repercussions, says: “They're just going to have to accept the reality that Firefox is not going to come back from the ashes.”

Their hopes for a Firefox revival are not high. “Chrome has won the desktop browser war,” says one former Firefox staff member, who worked on browser development at Mozilla but does not want to be named, as they still work in the industry. Similarly plans to replace third-party cookies in Chrome-a move that will impact millions of marketers and publishers-are shaped in Google’s image. When Google launched its AMP publishing standard, websites jumped to implement it. Since its release in 2008, Chrome has become synonymous with the web: It’s used by around 65 percent of everyone online and has a huge influence on how people experience the internet. For years, it was the best contender for keeping Google Chrome in check, offering a privacy-forward alternative to the world’s most dominant browser. Its fate also has larger implications for the web as a whole.

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