What is the business model for browsers?

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I mean, they're free, aren't they? And you can't advertise on them, like on search engine pages. And yet they must cost an awful lot to develop.

― perplexed, Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:36 (twenty years ago)

Good fucking question. I had been wondering that since the Netscape/Microsoft ordeal ..

Do businesses have to pay for site licenses for browsers? Is it only home use that's free?

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:44 (twenty years ago)

I believe large business/corporations pay for them, yes.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:45 (twenty years ago)

i'm guessing for the big guns, having a big userbase for your browser product gives you a big advantage in having a say in how the WWW shapes up, which obviously can have financial benefits.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:45 (twenty years ago)

the freeware version of opera has ads in the corner, the registered versions don't. $39 to register.

idea behind mozilla is to produce the best browser they can. it's an offshoot of netscape who used the browsers as adverts almost for their web *server* business.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:48 (twenty years ago)

And I suppose licensing fees for other companies to develop plug-ins, add-on, ancillary products ...

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:50 (twenty years ago)

yeah, from what i understand, the Mozilla family of browsers is pretty much philanthropy. Or am I deluding myself?

― Kenan (kenan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:51 (twenty years ago)

who needs a business model.

the Firefox fans who put together cash for an ad in papers weren't expecting money back. or so i understand it. which makes is nothing to do with business, as it's usually understood.

― Jaunty Alan (Alan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:53 (twenty years ago)

i was under the impression that netscape navigator used to cost until internet explorer came around (i don't really know for sure though as i've never paid for any of it)

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:54 (twenty years ago)

I seem to remember people paying for, like, Netscape 3. Seems absurd now.

― Kenan (kenan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:02 (twenty years ago)

no, you remember correctly. but you could pay for explorer, too.

ah, the business models of 1995.

― kingfish (Kingfish), Friday, 12 November 2004 00:28 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure IE requires licences that cost money if businesses use them on LANs, because we are forced to use IE at work, we have some licence for it. I dunno, I could probably install Mozilla anyway, but without admin rights I wont get far.

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 12 November 2004 00:45 (twenty years ago)

Mozilla is open source, which means no-one is gettin paid for working on it (as far as I know).

To get any of these things on CD in the past, you had to pay $40. Probably no longer the case.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 12 November 2004 03:45 (twenty years ago)

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