RealNetworks has signed distribution
agreements with both Google and the
Mozilla Corporation.
Users installing the Real, Rhapsody or RealArcade software applications will
be offered the option to also install the Firefox browser, as well as the Google
Toolbar and Desktop search applications.
For the past two years Real has distributed the Google Toolbar. The software
maker logs about two million downloads of its software monthly.
Google has a series of similar bundling deals with software developers,
including one with Adobe and one
with Sun Microsystems for its
Toolbar.
The toolbar for Internet Explorer (IE) steers online searchers to the Google
search engine. IE has MSN Search as its default search engine.
The bundling deals offer a software distribution channel for free software
outside of computer manufacturers and Microsoft.
Financial details of the arrangement weren't disclosed, but software makers
typically pay a fee for each download or installation.
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