Rumors have been circulating for some time that Google would be developing a Mozilla based browser (and potentially even an IM application) that would easily integrate with the company's GMAIL service. Tacked on to a slew of other moves, the hiring of two Mozilla/Firefox developers this week only fuels speculation that there's a Mozilla based "GBrowser" on the horizon.

On Monday, Ben Goodger, lead Firefox engineer announced via his blog he was hired by Google back on January 10, with the official title of software engineer. He was however very tight lipped about what projects Google will have him working on.

In the entry he noted that his role with Firefox and the Mozilla project would remain largely unchanged. "I remain devoted full-time to the advancement of Firefox, the Mozilla platform and web browsing in general," he promises.

Yesterday found another significant Mozilla developer, Darin Fisher, also announcing rather succinctly via his blog he'd been hired by the search giant. Fisher is the "owner" of the Mozilla NSPR (Netscape Portable Runtime), Cookie/Permissions, and NetLib (The Mozilla Networking Library) modules.

"Like Ben, I will still be very much involved with the Mozilla project and community," he promises.

The company registered the Web address "gbrowser.com" on April 26 of last year, and has been continually hiring browser and javascript experts (including IE co-developer and ex Microsoft employee Adam Bosworth).

Google has repeatedly stated they are not building a browser, but are interested in "improving the browsing experience". As such, it's very likely they may simply be developing applications that more smoothly integrate into existing browsers - Mozilla particularly.