Mozilla gets a few hundred million from Google. This may sound like a lot to you but it's pocket change to Google. They spend way more on their own browser as well as getting "free labor from volunteers".
There's a reason there's now so few independent browser engines.
Aren't you painting it a bit as an either-or situation? It's clear to me that Google is moving towards a web where the browser basically discloses all OS-level APIS on the Javascript level.
But browser makers can pick and choose what they want to implement. And we end users can pick the browers we like.
> But browser makers can pick and choose what they want to implement. And we end users can pick the browers we like.
Unfortunately that doesn't actually work like that in practice. We don't get to pick all of the websites we use and we certainly don't get to pick which APIs their developers use to make them. This in turn limits both your freedom to choose the browser you want and the browser vendor's freedom to choose what to implement.
As fun as it is to blame Google for the fall of the open Web, a big part of the blame lies with the developers that use those APIs without regard for their status.
There's a reason there's now so few independent browser engines.