Yesterday I wrote at Search Engine Land, After Six Years, Google Drops Support For Toolbar On Firefox.
In my article, I stressed the fact that the Google Toolbar was first introduced for Firefox over six years ago. They have supported the browser for six plus years and with the introduction of Firefox 5, they have decided to no longer support the browser. Why? They said "many features that were once offered by Google Toolbar for Firefox are now already built right into the browser," so why make it redundant.
But then Danny came in and added that this is a "stunning" move by Google. Why? Danny exampled "Google uses the toolbar to track user behavior. It's one way that Google gets site speed data that in turn is used to influence its search results. Many suspect that that surfing behavior is also used," Danny added.
That is pretty crazy if you think of it. Obviously, Google knows this and made a decision not to support Firefox 5. Are they that confident Chrome will take it's place? Will they also not support the new version of Internet Explorer?
Do you want the Google Toolbar on Firefox 5? Alex Chitu explained you can still run it if you use the compatibility reporter add-on.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
