Ben Goodger, lead software engineer on the team developing the Firefox web browser, has jumped the Mozilla ship and defected to Google.

Reporting in his blog Goodger said that leaving Mozilla and joining the search engine giant would not materially affect the amount of time he spends working on the browser.

Although Goodger remained tight-lipped about any wider ramifications of his move to Google, the development has fuelled ongoing speculation that Google is working to develop its own browser.

Rumours began spreading last year after references to 'Gbrowser' were found coded into various Google applications.

"My role with the Firefox project throughout 2004 and much of 2003 has been to plan, organise and execute on its development, up until recently with the goal of shipping Firefox 1.0 to the world," Goodger said in his blog.

"While I will be spending more time at Google, I will work out of the Mozilla Foundation offices regularly as the need arises. For all questions regarding Google, I ask that you contact Google directly, rather than myself."

Goodger has been, in his own modest words, working on the "small matter of writing code" for the Firefox project since 2003. Prior to joining Firefox he worked with America Online/Netscape developing Netscape's browser offerings.

Firefox has now been downloaded by more than six million users, but suffered a security scare recently when it was discovered that the browser was open to URL spoofing.