The little web browser that could

Of all the major web browsers available, Opera is an anomaly because it exists in and of itself to make money for the company that creates it. But how?

Apple, Google and Microsoft all offer free browsers, and make money from them indirectly. Apple, for example, likely hopes that having a kick-ass browser on the iPhone and iPod touch will attract more developers, more apps and more customers.

They also likely wanted to ensure that Mac users had at least one great browser to choose from in the absence of support from Microsoft, and so continue to sell Macs. (Of course, in recent years we’ve had a blossoming of options for the Mac.)

With Firefox, an open source effort, there is no attempt to make a profit, although some revenue is generated through Google searches to offset costs.

But let’s get back to Opera. It looks great and works great. Version 10 is in beta, and promises lots of awesome features and innovations. I especially like the look of the visual tabs. Clearly, development is going full speed ahead.

Still, what keeps them going? Look at these recent figures for market share — they’re hardly inspiring. Overall, Internet Explorer is holding its own. Firefox, Safari and Chrome are making small gains. And at the tail end is Opera, hovering around two per cent. Even Chrome, which was released only a few months ago, has surpassed it.

So how can they possibly be making money? An artlicle at ZDNet UK attempts to answer this question in an interview with Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner. Basically, they bring in most of their revenue by providing a free browser for mobile devices and generating cash through deals with “content partners” — which are listed on the Opera business site as Google and Yahoo.

So, it turns out, Opera’s main business model is not much different from that of other browser makers — ads from Google searches.

In the end, only the people who run the company know whether this will be enough to sustain them. In a way, Opera reminds me of Apple before the iPod made it a huge success. A small band of loyalists kept it going through its darkest hour, and they continue to promote it even now. Nowadays, we have blog posts from fans like this, which should ensure that Opera always has at least a small but important role to play in browser development.

Here’s hoping.

date posted Posted Friday, August 14, 2009 in

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  1. I’m using Opera now and I agree, it’s a great browser. Not sure it’s the best, but it’s definitely a sweet piece of code!

    For some reason, I find that scrolling is a lot more responsive when using Opera than any of the alternatives?

    Don





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