The business model of web browsers
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, UC Browser, Brave and Opera are just a few examples of popular browsers. You're currently using one of the browsers listed above to read this feature article. This is also a major possibility. According to Statista, there were 4.66 billion active Internet users in the globe in January 2021, accounting for 59.5 percent of the global population, and this figure is rapidly increasing. 92.6 percent (4.32 billion) of these individuals use mobile phones to access the Internet.
There are hundreds of web browsers available, each with its own set of capabilities, but we use them because they are free. So the question that comes to mind is, "How does the firm earn a profit from us using free browsers?" The solutions to such questions are the focus of today's event.
In 2018, Mozilla Firefox made over $436 million in revenue. About 95 percent of this huge sum comes from royalties. To put it bluntly, the money comes from the Firefox browser's built-in search engine advertising . Mozilla also receives funds from Firefox users through donations. Despite the fact that it is a minor sum. According to Fossbyte, as of July 2021, Mozilla had 205 million active Firefox users.
What is the greatest method to earn Google Chrome with the free service, you might wonder? Advertisers account for the majority of Google's revenue. Users are pulling others to their different services like Gmail, Google Apps, Google Docs, and other Google services while installing Google Chrome to explore the Internet. Users no longer need to access other apps individually as a result of the 'all in one' bundle. Meanwhile, page visits are becoming increasingly important in their ad revenue bucket with each service employed. Google's AdSense service is continually watching your browser history. Google collects information from consumers' Google searches and sells it to social networking sites. The data is analyzed by social media, and advertisements are targeted to the user's demands.
While browsers rely significantly on their search engine services, Google's search traffic is entirely dependent on browsers. Google's gross income in the first few months of 2011 was $8.58 billion, with advertising accounting for 97 percent of that.
According to a Statista report, in February 2021, Google Chrome accounted for 63.64 percent of the Internet browser market. According to a study by Oberlo, Google Chrome held the leading position in the browser market in 65.27% of the market as of June 2021. With 18.32 percent market share, Apple's Safari browser is in second place. Of course, this will be appreciated by iPhone and Mac users. Every year, Google is required to pay a royalty fee of $9-12 billion to the Safari browser. Mozilla Firefox and Samsung Internet Browser are in third and fourth position, respectively, with a market share of approximately 3.30 percent.
A virtual function known as 'extension' is available in almost all web browsers. The majority of these extensions are created by third-party developers, who charge varying fees based on the type of extension and the time of year. Google charges them a 5% fee if they utilize the 'Chrome Web Store API' as a platform for this.
The search engine Bing provides the majority of the money for the Microsoft Edge browser, similar to Google Adwords. However, being able to catch Google Chrome or Safari in the position they are in is no minor feat. Furthermore, Bing's ad income decreased by 7% in 2018.
When you start the Opera browser, do you notice that websites like Facebook, Amazon, CricketBuzz, and others appear on the homepage as shortcut icons? Is it possible that Opera saved the homepages of these sites as a pastime? No! Because such firms pay a specific amount of money to Opera, there are so many events on the webpage.
Aside from royalties, ad income is another source of browser revenue. Consider the 'Basic Attention Token Reward Program' of Brave Browser. Brave Browser shares 70% of the income produced by their users in return for watching their advertising under this agreement, while keeping the remaining 30% for themselves. In terms of privacy protection and performance, this browser is well recognized in the browser industry. They also have ad blockers and a no-log policy built in. In any event, they must make money in order to keep their firm viable. This is why they've set up a cryptocurrency called Basic Attention Tokens in the browser (BAT). They provide BAT to its customers, similar to the 'Microsoft Rewards' program. They've also reached an agreement with the HTC Exodus, the world's first blockchain phone, to make Brave Browser the default browser.
Subscription work is also compensated at the same time. For example, for extra storage, Google offers 'Cloud Storage' and Microsoft offers 'One Drive' advertisements. If a consumer want to use the service, he must pay an additional fee. The browser company will benefit in this way.
Conclusion
In essence, this is how browsers make money. As the world becomes more reliant on technology, browser usage will increase. With time, browsers will discover new ways to make money, and their annual revenue will easily climb from one million to billions.
Source:
- How Mozilla Firefox And Google Chrome Make Money - Investopedia
- How browsers make money, or why Google needs Firefox- ET
- How Do Internet Browsers Make Money? - MTE
- Get Rewarded For Paying Attention - Brave
- How Do Web Browsers Make Money like Chrome, Firefox etc. - Tech Insight
- Google announces Q1 earnings: $8.58 billion gross revenue, $2.3 billion net income-Engadget
- Mozilla Firefox Lost More Than 30 Million Users Since 2019- fossbytes
- The State of Mozilla 2018 -mozilla
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