It's hard to look at this as something other than a trigger for inevitable conflicts of interest, and the same enshittification spiral Google experienced.
> the same enshittification spiral Google experienced
This is exactly what comes to my mind. When Google acquired DoubleClick, they positioned it as a net good for everybody in terms of privacy. DoubleClick was notoriously awful in those terms. Google said (and people, including myself, believed) that by owning them, Google can make them into something better.
Instead, DoubleClick made Google into something much, much worse.
I would love to hear from Mozilla what they're doing to avoid a similar fate.
This is exactly what comes to my mind. When Google acquired DoubleClick, they positioned it as a net good for everybody in terms of privacy. DoubleClick was notoriously awful in those terms. Google said (and people, including myself, believed) that by owning them, Google can make them into something better.
Instead, DoubleClick made Google into something much, much worse.
I would love to hear from Mozilla what they're doing to avoid a similar fate.