It was announced by Yahoo last month that they were going to replace Google as the default search engine in the next/latest version of Firefox: Firefox 34. According to new data by StatCounter released earlier today, the new position is now paying dividends for Yahoo.
This what the analytics firm said: “Yahoo search was used three times more on Firefox 34 than on Firefox 33.” Naturally, since Firefox 34 is still fairly new, the installed user base is still low, and haven’t upgraded yet. The current market share for the US Firefox is approximately 15%.
As a result of the new default relationship with Firefox, according to StatCounter, Yahoo search share on the browser has grown from 9.6 percent to 29.4 percent. Because of this change from Google to Yahoo, Google usage in Firefox 34 has gone down to just over 63 percent.
Ultimately, the idea of having a “default” search browser still means something. Assuming Firefox 34 can gain more traction, and the default search browser relationship remains true, then this means more monthly queries for Yahoo.