In a post article on its support site, Mozilla announced a new change that will happen to users after they upgrade to Firefox version 98, which is expected to be released in the first week of next March.
After upgrading to this version, some users will notice a notification at the top of their browser telling them that their default search engine has been changed. It will also tell you what your new default search engine is and redirect you to an article with instructions on how to change to another search engine if you wish to do so.
This change, according to Mozilla, is because the foundation was unable to secure formal permission to continue including certain search engines in Firefox.
Mozilla has provided an opportunity to previously-included search engines to sign an agreement, but some have not completed the agreement and they will therefore be removed from Firefox. This change will apply to people in all countries who are using an affected search engine with Mozilla.
the fondation adds that "If you wish to continue using an engine that has been removed, you will need to install a third-party search plugin or extension for that engine. Optionally, you can configure another search engine from the ones available."
Firefox comes pre-installed with several search engines, and the default search engine is set for users based on their geographical location. For example, Yandex is the default search engine for people residing in Russia and Baidu for people in China, while Google is set as the default search engine on Firefox for most Rest of the world.
Mozilla has not clarified any additional details about what engines will be deleted or what they will be replaced with, and there are no exact details about the type or content of the agreements that Mozilla proposed to search engine companies, nor about the terms included in them, but what is certain here, is that this Mozilla Foundation's step will force some users to take the extra step of re-adding and setting their search engine after upgrading to Firefox version 98, a step that may not be liked by everyone, and may look to switch to a less complex web browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
