Firefox is not competition, it’s an advertising channel. Searches from Firefox users account for probably $5-10 billion a year in ad revenue based on Firefox’s market share. Chrome only exists to keep people using the web and keep them searching on Google; it’s insurance against Microsoft and Apple. The long-term threats to Google are app ecosystems like iOS and Windows 8 Metro where people consume all their content through native apps obtained through stores controlled by Google’s competitors. All their non-search products (browsers, phones, chromebooks, gmail, their office apps) exist to maintain demand for access to the open web over these curated native experiences… because Google needs people to use the web or they won’t be searching (and viewing Google ads) as much.

- Reddit user odd84 gives an excellent explanation of why Google does the things they do, including paying $300 million annually to Mozilla to keep Google as the default search provider in Firefox. (via world-shaker)