Software

EU browser choice rules send millions more users Firefox's way

Mozilla claims the Digital Markets Act delivered lasting bump, invites Britain to do similar

The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been kind to Mozilla, which says Firefox use is on the up as Europeans are given a choice of default browser on mobile.

Through these browser selection screens, the company reckons 6 million users have opted for Firefox instead of what would otherwise have been Safari or Chrome, depending on whether they used an iPhone or Android device.

Moz has seen the greatest success on iGadgets, with a 113 percent increase compared to a mere 12 percent rise on Android.

This is less likely to be explained by overwhelming disdain for Safari than by the ways in which Apple and Google implemented these browser choice screens.

Android devices display the browser selection screens upon first boot or after factory reset, whereas iPhone and iPad users are now shown the same screen as soon as they open Safari for the first time.

The DMA obligations began applying in March 2024. Apple's implementation of the EU requirements was always going to lead to more people being prompted to select their browser than Google's, which mostly applies to new Android owners after the DMA was enforced, rather than existing users.

Mozilla won't care, though, because not only are user numbers up, but user retention is also looking good – it is five times higher than before the DMA, by its reckoning.

Other browser vendors have reported similar results, according to a recent European Commission review [PDF] of the DMA's efficacy, although it didn't cite any specific figures.

Few vendors have published long-term results like Mozilla's, although Aloha, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi all reported sizable uplifts in users in the initial days and weeks following the DMA's enforcement.

Further, in recent publications [PDF], DuckDuckGo said around 40 percent more users selected its browser on Android thanks to the DMA browser choice screen.

The privacy-focused tech biz offered the statistic in its submission to the UK government's consultation on how to maintain competition in online search.

Moz also submitted its thoughts on the topic, and unsurprisingly, given they both benefited massively from them, both vendors want the same DMA-style browser choice screens to feature in the UK market.

DuckDuckGo said they should be shown to users annually, and Google should be forced to remove its "Switch back to Google" prompt in Chrome.

Mozilla wants the browser choice screens to be delivered to UK users in 2026, for the same users also to be presented with similar screens for default search engines, and for these measures to be enforceable rather than relying only on voluntary commitments from the relevant vendors.

Criticizing the DMA, Moz added that it would also like to see the same measures applied to desktop browsers, alleging that Microsoft deploys deceptive design tactics to push its Edge browser. ®