When we think of Internet browsers, we think of a free means to access and enjoy everything the Internet has to offer. However, there’s money behind Internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.
Internet analyst Gene Munster of company Piper Jaffray, a middle-market investment banking firm, says that Chrome could be worth as much as $1.5 Billion for Google. That’s quite a bit of dough for something that is only a few years old.
Munster explains his findings further :
“Google is paying Mozilla $300 million a year over the next three year to feature its search engine in Firefox, a rival browser Google is challenging with Chrome. Munster, who also feels Chrome is exerting enough pressure on Mozilla and Microsoft to make their browsers better for the Web, used the financials of this Google-Mozilla arrangement to make his case for Chrome’s valuation.”
“If you assume that Chrome could generate $300 million in annual revenue through its essentially identical market share (and growing) with a 5x revenue multiple, Chrome would be worth $1.5 billion,” Munster wrote in a research note Jan. 4.”
You see, the incredibly popular browser at over 200 Million users, isn’t just a way for you to discover everything there is to discover on the Internet. It’s a means of getting you to search, find, and discover content that happens to be monetized via, you guessed it, Google.
That’s where the real money is at and with the deal with Mozilla, it allows Google to increase it’s market share which benefits them in numerous ways.
