Google Hires Web Browser Programmer

Google Inc. has hired the chief engineer of the fast-growing Firefox Web browser, fueling speculation that the online search giant may challenge Microsoft Corp.’s dominant Internet Explorer.

Until earlier this month, Ben Goodger worked for the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, which is leading the Firefox effort and other campaigns to develop software written by large volunteer collectives.

Goodger’s duties at Google weren’t disclosed. But the 24-year-old car enthusiast, who grew up in New Zealand, wrote on his blog that he would work on Firefox and “Web browsing in general.”

In part because of users’ concerns about the security of Internet Explorer, the free Firefox browser has been downloaded 20 million times, winning a 5% share of the market just three months after its first version for the general public was introduced.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has long insisted that it has no interest in building a browser of its own. In October, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told the Financial Times that his company was “not building a browser” and didn’t plan to.

Google spokesman Steve Langdon said Tuesday that he couldn’t make the same declaration.

“We do not comment on speculation about product development,” he said. “Many of Google’s products aim to enhance the browsing experience.”

Google has hired other top browser experts in the past. Now, the company might be working on “a Google version of Firefox,” said Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch.

It makes sense for Google to be keenly interested in Firefox, according to a leader of that browser project, Blake Ross.

“Would you feel comfortable if customers had to walk through your competitor’s shop to get to your own?” Ross wrote on his website. “When there’s one porthole on the ship, everyone has to look through it.”

Indeed, roughly 90% of Google’s visitors reach the website via Explorer, and Microsoft has in the past experimented with redirecting lost Web surfers to its own search engine.

Langdon said Goodger would spend half his time on Mozilla Foundation projects. Before joining Mozilla, Goodger worked for Netscape, which introduced the browser to the masses before Microsoft began including Explorer with every copy of the Windows operating system.

Goodger and a Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.

People following the developments noted that the line between browsing and searching was getting fuzzier. Google offers such Internet Explorer extras as a “tool bar,” which allows searching without leaving a Web page. And Firefox presents Google as an initial page when it’s opened.

Google’s success has prompted Microsoft to invest heavily in its own search engine, which is due for a major re-release in about a week. The companies also produce competing shopping and news services and tools for Web diarists, known as bloggers.

Google’s stock fell $3.60 to $177.12 on Nasdaq. Microsoft shares gained 35 cents to $26.02, also on Nasdaq.