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Firefox lead programmer now a Googlista

Stephen Shankland CNET News

Published: 25 Jan 2005 09:30 GMT

Google has hired the lead programmer of the Firefox Web browser, the newest step in the search powerhouse's encroachment onto Microsoft's turf.

Ben Goodger announced on Monday on his blog that he took a job with Google on 10 January. The move is the latest of several that are fuelling speculation that Google plans its own Web browser.

Firefox, which has cut into the dominant market share enjoyed by Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, is a variant of the open source Mozilla browser project originally begun in 1998 by Netscap. Despite no longer being employed by the Mozilla Foundation, "My role with Firefox and the Mozilla project will remain largely unchanged," Goodger said on his blog.

At Google, Goodger will continue work on the browser. Since the release of Firefox 1.0 in 2004, he's been focusing on "successful 1.1, 1.5 and 2.0 releases", and will continue to do so, he said on the blog.

Among other clues pointing to browser interest at Google are the registration of the gbrowser.com Internet address, the hiring of some key programmers, and sponsorship of a Mozilla programmer meeting.

Even without a browser, Google is involved in significant competition with Microsoft. Both companies are working on desktop search tools, and Microsoft is pushing its MSN Search service as an alternative to Google.

Firefox also has a built-in search box that offers Google's search engine as its default option.