All four major web browsers are about to lose 80% of their funding | by Dan Fabulich | Apr, 2025

Google pays for 80%+ of the development budget of all major web browsers, and soon, the US will force Google to stop supporting their competitors.

Four major web browsers dominate the market: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari. What most users don’t realize is that Google effectively bankrolls over 80% of the development for all of them. But this funding stream is under threat: the US Department of Justice is moving to force Google to cut off its competitors and divest from Chrome, a decision that will simultaneously cripple the development of every major browser.

Google pays Mozilla and Apple to make Google Search the default search engine for Firefox and Safari. Google pays Apple about $18 billion each year, and pays Mozilla about $450 million each year.

“In 2021 these payments accounted for 83% of Mozilla’s revenue.”

Apple doesn’t disclose how much they spend on Safari specifically, but Apple’s total R&D across all its products (iPhones, Macs, etc.) was nearly $30 billion in 2023. Google’s $18 billion payment specifically for search placement represents a staggering 60% of that total budget. The portion Apple spends just on Safari development is undoubtedly far smaller, meaning Google’s payment likely covers a vast majority of Safari’s specific development costs.

Microsoft Edge is actually a “white label” copy of Google Chrome, specifically the open-source “Chromium” browser that Google maintains.

Now, to be fair, Microsoft isn’t just copying Chrome; they also contribute code back to Chromium. But Microsoft contributes much, much less than Google does.

“In 2024, Google made over 100,000 commits to Chromium, accounting for ~94 percent of contributions.”

The US Department of Justice has argued that Google should be forbidden from making search-engine deals with Mozilla and Apple.

Mozilla and Apple have argued against this.

And the DoJ has also argued that Google should be forced to sell off Chrome, forbidding Google from paying for Chrome and Chromium. Microsoft Edge will lose 94% of its funding when that happens.

The DoJ’s argument against Google makes perfect sense. The Sherman Antitrust Act was specifically designed to target “competitors” who form illegal agreements to maintain monopoly power.

It’s obviously illegal for Google to prop up Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari as if they were co-equal competitors to Chrome. And Chrome itself is the biggest “search-engine deal” of all, which is why the DoJ is so focused on forcing Google to divest from Chrome.

It just so happens that all four of the major web browsers will lose all of their funding all at once when that happens.

Forcing Google to stop funding its “competitors” and divest Chrome doesn’t just punish Google; it simultaneously pulls the financial rug out from under every single major browser, including those positioned as alternatives.

The laws intended to foster competition will inadvertently destabilize the foundational tools millions rely on to access the internet.

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