- [Firefox 154 built-in Startpage launch] → Mozilla blog — proves Startpage became a built-in desktop search option with Firefox 154 in five European countries
Firefox 154 adds private Startpage search in Europe
A Firefox user in Amsterdam who wanted private search used to face a small chore: install an extension, flip a setting, remember the workaround. Starting with Firefox 154, released today Mozilla blog, that chore disappears for users in five European countries.
Startpage, a Netherlands-based search engine, is now a built-in desktop search option in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. No extension. No account. Android and iOS are promised but not yet live.
The move answers a request Mozilla says has been loud for a while. Startpage was the most-requested search engine integration on Mozilla Connect, and Firefox users already run more than one billion Startpage searches a year Mozilla blog. Until now, each of those searches meant extra setup.
“We’d rather you decide how you want to search,” said Ajit Varma, Head of Firefox. “Adding Startpage puts a genuinely private search engine option — real results, zero profiling, AI-free — one click away for millions of people in Europe.”
That last point is the product’s pitch. Startpage returns full search results without storing queries or linking them to a user, and it pushes no AI answers above the results Startpage blog. In a market where a handful of large companies shape the default web experience, a European, privacy-first alternative built into the browser is the angle Mozilla is leaning on.
Stewart Marlborough, President of Startpage, framed it as a response to demand. “Firefox users already run over a billion Startpage searches a year. Now Startpage is built in for everyone in these markets,” he said, describing the pattern the two companies want: users ask, the browser ships.
Not every Firefox user gets it. The integration is desktop-only at launch and limited to five countries, with mobile and broader rollout still pending. People happy with another default search engine see no change to their setup.
The launch follows Mozilla’s recent public Firefox roadmap, which put privacy and user choice at the center of the browser’s direction Mozilla roadmap. The same privacy posture already blocks tracking, fingerprinting, and third-party cookies out of the box.
For Startpage, the deal is the largest distribution win in the company’s history, landing inside a browser used by hundreds of millions. The two firms ran a pilot across all five countries before flipping the switch, according to Startpage.
The practical takeaway is narrow but real: if you are in one of the five countries and value search privacy, update to Firefox 154, open search settings, and pick Startpage. One click, no extension, and your queries stay yours.
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