Mozilla向美国上诉法院提交了法庭之友意见书，表达对谷歌搜索引擎分发协议遭禁的担忧[1]。该公司在意见书中警告，如果被禁止接收谷歌的搜索引擎付款，Mozilla可能被迫退出浏览器市场[1]。
这一立场是对联邦和州竞争执法部门的回应——这些部门要求推翻2024年法官Amit Mehta允许谷歌继续向Apple、Mozilla等搜索引擎分发者支付费用的裁决部分[1]。Mehta的裁决认定谷歌非法维持了通用搜索服务和搜索相关文本广告两个市场的垄断地位[1]。2025年9月发布的反垄断措施禁止谷歌在六年内与Google Search、Chrome、Google Assistant和Gemini应用的分发者签订独家分发协议，但仍允许其继续向这些分发者支付费用[1]。
Mozilla辩称Mehta的决定有充分证据支持[1]。该公司引用自身研究指出，若将Firefox默认搜索引擎从谷歌改为必应，收入会大幅下降[1]。
Mozilla has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that proposed antitrust restrictions against Google threaten its viability as a browser maker.[1] The company warned that if prohibited from receiving search revenue payments from Google, it may be forced to exit the browser market entirely.[1]
The filing responds to demands by federal and state competition authorities to overturn part of Judge Amit Mehta's 2024 ruling, which determined that Google illegally maintained monopolies in both general search services and search-related text advertising.[1] While Mehta's September 2025 remedies banned Google from signing exclusive distribution agreements with distributors of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and Gemini for six years, they permitted Google to continue making payments to distribution partners including Apple and Mozilla.[1] The competition enforcers now seek to eliminate that payment provision.[1]
Mozilla contends that Mehta's decision permitting these payments is well-supported by evidence and argues its own research demonstrates significant revenue losses would result from switching Firefox's default search engine from Google to Bing.[1]