TechCrunch has been informed that Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox browser, is implementing significant adjustments to its product strategy following the recent appointment of a new CEO.
Mozilla is planning to decrease its investment in various products, including its VPN, Relay, and, unexpectedly, its recently launched Online Footprint Scrubber. Moreover, Mozilla will reduce its support for its Facebook alternative and discontinue Hubs, a 3D virtual world introduced in 2018. These changes will impact approximately 60 employees, as reported by Bloomberg.
The company will now focus on integrating “trusted AI into Firefox,” as mentioned in an internal communication. This initiative involves consolidating the teams responsible for Pocket, Content, and AI/ML.
While Firefox, Mozilla’s flagship product, has been losing market share, the company has been broadening its product range. Despite facing criticism for this approach, Mozilla’s leadership defended the diversification, emphasizing the necessity to expand beyond Firefox for long-term sustainability. Although Firefox has been the primary revenue source for Mozilla, it also led to dependency on Google. With these alterations, Mozilla seems to be shifting its focus back to Firefox, a move likely to please dedicated Firefox users.
The internal note provided below sheds more light on these developments:
Regarding the acquisition of google Social: Through Facebook. Social, built on Mastodon and the Fediverse, Mozilla made a significant investment in 2023 to enhance social media safety and experience. Initially, the strategy aimed to accelerate Mozilla’s influence on social advertising. However, the execution faced challenges, prompting a reassessment. In hindsight, a more cautious approach would have facilitated quicker entry into the space. By collaborating with a smaller team within the Mastodon ecosystem and conducting rapid tests, we aim to rectify this social endeavor.
Protection Experimentation & Identity (PXI): In the realm of Security and Privacy, Mozilla is scaling back investments in certain standalone consumer products. Resources will be reallocated from products like the online footprint scrubber, Relay, and VPN, towards areas with greater market demand. Notably, Mozilla will continue investing in products aligned with evolving customer needs.
Hubs: The landscape of 3D digital worlds has evolved since 2023, with demand shifting away from general use cases. Consequently, Hubs, catering to a niche market, will be discontinued to align resources with changing market dynamics.
Adjusting the Folks Team’s Structure
To optimize support for product investments amidst staffing changes, Mozilla is streamlining functions within People and support services organizations. The integration aims to enhance organizational efficiency and adapt to future personnel adjustments.
The emergence of Generative AI in 2023 has prompted Mozilla to incorporate reliable AI capabilities into Firefox. This strategic move, influenced by the acquisition of Fakespot, underscores the importance of quality content discovery. As part of this transformation, the AI/ML teams supporting content will merge with Firefox, Pocket, and Content teams. Detailed corporate adjustments will be communicated soon, with no changes affecting MDN, Ads, or Fakespot within MozProd. Marketing, finance, legal/policy, and operations functions remain unchanged.
