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Opera Finally Realizes That Nobody Pays For Browsers
from the oh,-look-at-that... dept
It only took a few years, but Opera has finally realized that people really won't ever pay for a browser when all of the competition is free. They've done away with the license fee and taken the ads out of the free version they did offer, in the hopes of actually getting some users. This seems like a more effective marketing strategy than silly publicity stunts involving your CEO pretending to swim across the ocean.
Reader Comments
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So, what's the new biz plan?
I wonder how they plan to collect revenue now. Perhaps their embedded sales have been taking off...
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Re: So, what's the new biz plan?
1. Give browser away for free
2. ???
3. Profit!!!
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Re: So, what's the new biz plan?
Perhaps they have gone to a volunteer system?
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Now if only the idiots at iCab...
would get a clue...
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Opera's New Business Plan
They now offer "Premium Support" for $29 for one year. They are still charging $29 for the mobile versions and they are charging for their mobile accelerator which is a subscription service.
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People don't pay for browsers but Companies do
All the companies I have worked for in the past 10 years have paid for browsers. Netscape required a fee once upon a time, and companies paid that fee so they could have someone to badger if things went pear-shaped. Everyone pays for IE because, lawsuit remedies to the contrary notwithstanding, its the friggin operating system and that operating system ain't free. The right to cripple Netscape Navigator for use as the only ad-belching browser supported by your Nazi ISP was sold to AOL, NetZero and others: this funded Gecko development which produced Navigator and Mozilla. I'm convinced there are companies that purchased Opera licenses for use with work they do on the Internet, especially for high-stake situations where they needed to get ahold of someone to fix a problem right away. For example, trading stocks over the Internet-- you need every link in the chain to work or you might lose thousands of dollars. From experience I know you can't call Microsoft about IE and expect to get any meaningful help, so you buy a browser. Here's a suggestion, Techdirt: try to understand the corporate philosophy so you can attract those customers, even if they appear to be colossal morons.
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yay!
This used to be a great browser that you could fit on a floppy, and I think they even advertised that. I am glad it is finally free...
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You ask...
How will we make money? One word: Volume.
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Re: You ask...
Three words actually:
volume Volume VOLUME!
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Opera
I downloaded and installed the free Opera Browser and deleted it 30 min. later. They should pay people to use it. I've been using Firefox since it came out and no other browser can touch it!
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Re: Opera
I second that emotion!! :>)
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No Subject Given
I got a free license for their tenth anniversary. Since then I've used both opera and firefox. Opera is defiantly faster and smoother; but it lacks the Flash media removal plugin. So I use firefox much more then opera.
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Browsers
Companies would definetly pay for a browser. However, Opera was not marketed for companies, as you could see. Sure, some companies may have purchased Opera, but the website did not specifically target them. First rule of selling a product or service: Target an audiance.
I use Mozilla Firefox for graphical purposes, but otherwise, I use the Unix browser: Lynx. It is text-based, and is the original Unix Web browser. Ironicly, it beats the pants off of Opera and IE. Then again, it does not take much to beat IE...
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Opera revenue
Opera makes some money from affiliate marketing, since the browser has very convenient ways to access Google, Amazon, Ebay, and some other sites. They also have other sources of revenue; there's a complete summary here:
http://opera.com/company/investors/faq/#faq3
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