How Web Browsers Make Money: The names of popular browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, UC Browser, Opera are the names that come to mind. You are currently reading this feature article through one of the browsers mentioned above – that possibility is also vital. Statista s According to a survey, the world’s 4.66 billion active Internet users in January 2021, 59.
5 percent of the world’s total population, is increasing. Of these, 92.6 percent (4.32 billion) people are connected to the Internet through mobile.
There are hundreds of web browsers with striking features, but we are using them for free. So the questi0n that comes to mind is, “Since we are using free browsers, how does the company make a profit from that?” Today’s event is with the answers to those questions.
A little history
Let’s take a look at the history of browsers before analyzing them in detail. The first thing that c0mes to mind is WWW founder Tim Berners-Lee.
1991 was a milestone in the age of technology. That same year, Berners-Lee created a web browser called www. This is the world’s first web browser. Its feature was that it could be used for web browsing and editing or editing webpages without any hassle. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
But the problem was that only text could be seen in the browser, not any pictures. Then again, many people would combine the short form of ‘world wide web’ with ‘www’ and ‘www’ browser. The browser was renamed ‘Nexus’ to avoid confusion. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Marc Andreessen, a young software developer, came up with the idea of eliminating browser image problems. In 1993, in collaboration with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, he developed a ‘Mosaic’ browser.
The most notable feature of it was that it had the opportunity to view the text and pictures. In 1994, he broke all ties with the company and set up a new Netscape Communications company.
In the same year, Andresen launched a browser called ‘Netscape Navigator in the form of a mosaic browser. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
The browser gained 90% of the market share in 1995 due to its massive popularity in the beginning. Initially, the developers of Netscape Navigator said that non-commercial companies would be allowed to use this browser for free. Everyone else had to pay a certain amount to use the browser. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Read More: What Is Cyber Security? Necessity and Types Of Cyber Security
Meanwhile, in 1994, Spyglass Inc., Through licensing the source code of Mosaic, Spyglass developed another browser called Enhanced Mosaic. It was not open to everyone. It was sold to different companies.
In 1995, Microsoft bought the browser’s license for 8 million. By developing its source code, it gave birth to the ‘Internet Explorer’ browser. The emergence of this browser has changed the course of the long-running browser’s lucrative business approach. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
To increase its revenue, Microsoft has made Internet Explorer accessible for their operating system Windows 95, and other versions of Windows. Internet Explorer was also offered as the default browser on Macintosh devices due to a special agreement with Apple.
In addition to being released for free, under the shadow of two tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft, all versions of Internet Explorer in 1999 captured 75 percent of the browser market.
Netscape Navigator has to kneel to this uninterrupted progress of Internet Explorer. As a result, Netscape was declared open source in 1997. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Meanwhile, when the remarkable agreement between Microsoft and Apple expired in 2003, Apple took the idea of making their browser seriously. As a result, we have the world’s second most used browser ‘Safari.
‘ AOL Netscape, a US-based online web portal and service provider, was acquired in 2004. Later, Mozilla Firefox was created using its open-source code. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
The browser came on the market in November of that year. Meanwhile, the browser ‘Opera’ made in Oslo, Norway, in 1997 was also released on January 12, 2005. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Google made the latest splash in 2006. Their web browser ‘Google Chrome’ has ‘Isolated Tabs’ and ‘Fast Browsing Feature’ Brings. The browser was built based on Google’s Chromium open-source code. These free browsers became famous overnight due to their success with improved security and speed.
The way web browsers make money.
Mozilla Firefox‘s revenue in 2016 was close to 437 million. About 95 percent of this vast sum comes from royalties. To put it bluntly, the Firefox browser is part of the built-in search engine advertising revenue. Mozilla also makes money by collecting donations from Firefox users. However, the amount is minimal. As of July 2021, Mozilla has about 205 million active Firefox users, according to Fossbyte.
The question may be – what is the way to earn Google Chrome with the free service? Google takes the bulk of its revenue from advertisers. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
While users install Google Chrome to browse the Internet, they drag people to their respective services. Such as Gmail, Google Apps, Google Docs, etc. As a result of the ‘all in one package, users no longer access other applications separately.
Meanwhile, with each service usage, page views are becoming increasingly heavy in their ad revenue bag. Google’s AdSense program is always keeping a close eye on your browsing data.
Users are collecting data from Google searches and selling it to various social media. Social media is analyzing that data and advertising according to the needs of the user. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Read More: What Is Machine Learning? Types, Examples And Course Of Machine Learning 2021
While browsers rely heavily on their search engine service, Google is dependent on browsers for search traffic. In the first few months of 2011, Google’s gross revenue was 6.56 billion, of which 98% came from advertising.
Statista the one, according to February 2021, Google Chrome, the internet browser market share of 63.64 percent occupied. According to a study-by Oberlo, Google Chrome he,ld the leading position in the browser market in 85.28% of the market as of June 2021.
Apple’s Safari browser is in the following post with a 16.32 percent market share. Of course, iPhone and Mac users will get thanks for this. Google has to pay a fee of-9-12 billion to the Safari browser every year, just as a royalty charge.
In third and fourth place are Mozilla Firefox and Samsung Internet Browser, with around 3.30 percent. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
Almost all web browsers offer users a virtual feature called ‘extension.’ Most of these extensions are made by third-party developers, who charge different amounts depending on the type of extension at other times.
If they use the ‘Chrome Web Store API’ as a platform, Google deducts a 5% fee.
The primary revenue of Microsoft Edge browsers like Google Adwords comes from the hands of search engine Bing. However, it is not a small thing to catch Google Chrome or Safari with their position. In addition, Bing’s ad revenue fell by 6 percent in 2016. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
As soon as you open the Opera browser, you can see the websites like Facebook, Amazon, CricketBuzz, etc., as shortcut icons on the homepage? Has Opera bookmarked these sites on the homepage as a hobby?
No! Those companies pay a certain amount of money to Opera, so many events are on the homepage. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
In addition to royalties, another source of browser revenue is ad revenue. For example, Brave Browser’s ‘Basic Attention Token Reward Program.’ Under this, Brave Browser shares 70% of the revenue generated by their users in exchange for viewing their ads, leaving the remaining 30% to themselves.
This browser is highly regarded in the world of browsers in terms of privacy protection and speed. They also offer built-in ad blockers and a zero log policy. In any case, if they want to keep their business afloat, they have to make money. This is why they have arranged cryptocurrency in the browser, known as Basic Attention Tokens (BAT).
Like the ‘Microsoft Rewards’ program, they give BAT to their customers. They have also struck a deal with the world’s first blockchain phone, the HTC Exodus, where Brave Browser is set as the default browser.
The work of subscription is also paid at the same time. For example, Google provides ‘Cloud Storage’ and Microsoft ‘One Drive’ ads for additional storage. If a customer wants to use that service, he has to pay extra—this way; the browser company can profit. (How Web Browsers Make Money)
That’s how browsers make money. As the world grows m0re and more dependent on technology, the active use of browsers will increase. With time, browsers will also find new ways of earning revenue so that their annual income can quickly jump from one million to billions.