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Couple with native adblocking I'm very tempted to switch browsers (from FF) and probably do so when available. But it just sounds too good, what is the catch?

by a_imho 11y ago

glaberficken 11y ago
I'm not a specialist, but you can start by researching how the Opera company makes money. It would seem to me a possible future "catch" would be that they could charge selected advertisers to let their ads through... From their own FAQ: http://www.operasoftware.com/press/faq http://www.operasoftware.com/press/faq "How Opera makes money" Opera provides cloud-based mobile services and solutions to operators, publishers and advertisers and enables hundreds of millions of consumers, via the Company's global cloud infrastructure, to connect to the internet content and services that matter most to them. Along those lines, Opera has different revenue models, depending on the customer type: *Operators.* Opera's revenue sources from this hosted solution include active user fees, data fees, NRE/development fees, hosting services, advertising and maintenance, and support. *Mobile consumers* (via partnerships with search providers and advertisers). The primary driver of mobile consumer revenue is revenue from mobile search, the Opera Mobile Store and active user growth. *Mobile publishers and advertisers.* Revenue comes from Opera's mobile advertising services and technology solutions, offered to premium and performance advertisers, ad agencies, publishers and developers. *Device OEMs.* Revenue comes through license agreements with a wide range of consumer-electronic-device OEMs. *Desktop consumers.* Revenue comes primarily from search and e-commerce partnerships.
- j_koreth 11y ago
  They literally have an advertising division as Opera Mediaworks
  - blowski 11y ago
    So do the other three biggest browser vendors - Microsoft, Apple and Google. So I'm not sure what that shows.
    - cyphar 11y ago
      You missed Mozilla.
- a_imho 11y ago
  Thanks, this same announcement says though that Opera now has Support for adding a personal ad blocker list. I don't think they would add this feature to just circumvent later, imho it would do more harm than good for their business. If they don't want to push me using their other services putting their hands on and selling my data, while working on secure and anonymous browser that would be really nice. Sadly I don't see there is money in a product/service like that.
mtgx 11y ago
Yeah, it's becoming more and more interesting. What would kill my interest is if it ends up being bought by a Chinese company, though.
- tomkwok 11y ago
  It has been... See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11177438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11177438
gh02t 11y ago
I switched to opera on Linux recently as Chrome and then Firefox had gotten a bit slow or unstable for me as of late. Have to say, I am very pleased. It's tidy, fast and integrates in pretty well on Linux. It's also featured packed without the agonizingly long startups Chrome was giving me. I know they monetize with ads and such, but I haven't found them intrusive at all. I think one of their major sources is that they have a kind of Flipboard-esque feed of news articles on your home screen at the bottom. If that is where they do their advertising then it's a model of how to do it IMO. I've found that the articles it shows are genuinely things I want to read and it's not intrusive at all; in fact I'd miss it if it was gone.
- bwat48 11y ago
  Yeah people give the new Opera a pretty unfair rap, it's a good browser.
EugeneOZ 11y ago
Add inherited from Chrome dev console and awesome logo! ;) I'm trying to use it as main browser today. Only annoying thing is [x] button on the left side of the tab.

Couple with native adblocking I'm very tempted to switch browsers (from FF) and probably do so when available. But it just sounds too good, what is the catch?

by a_imho 11y ago

Couple with native adblocking I'm very tempted to switch browsers (from FF) and probably do so when available. But it just sounds too good, what is the catch?

glaberficken 11y ago

I'm not a specialist, but you can start by researching how the Opera company makes money. It would seem to me a possible future "catch" would be that they could charge selected advertisers to let their ads through... From their own FAQ: http://www.operasoftware.com/press/faq http://www.operasoftware.com/press/faq "How Opera makes money" Opera provides cloud-based mobile services and solutions to operators, publishers and advertisers and enables hundreds of millions of consumers, via the Company's global cloud infrastructure, to connect to the internet content and services that matter most to them. Along those lines, Opera has different revenue models, depending on the customer type: *Operators.* Opera's revenue sources from this hosted solution include active user fees, data fees, NRE/development fees, hosting services, advertising and maintenance, and support. *Mobile consumers* (via partnerships with search providers and advertisers). The primary driver of mobile consumer revenue is revenue from mobile search, the Opera Mobile Store and active user growth. *Mobile publishers and advertisers.* Revenue comes from Opera's mobile advertising services and technology solutions, offered to premium and performance advertisers, ad agencies, publishers and developers. *Device OEMs.* Revenue comes through license agreements with a wide range of consumer-electronic-device OEMs. *Desktop consumers.* Revenue comes primarily from search and e-commerce partnerships.

j_koreth 11y ago
They literally have an advertising division as Opera Mediaworks
- blowski 11y ago
  So do the other three biggest browser vendors - Microsoft, Apple and Google. So I'm not sure what that shows.
  - cyphar 11y ago
    You missed Mozilla.
a_imho 11y ago
Thanks, this same announcement says though that Opera now has Support for adding a personal ad blocker list. I don't think they would add this feature to just circumvent later, imho it would do more harm than good for their business. If they don't want to push me using their other services putting their hands on and selling my data, while working on secure and anonymous browser that would be really nice. Sadly I don't see there is money in a product/service like that.

mtgx 11y ago

Yeah, it's becoming more and more interesting. What would kill my interest is if it ends up being bought by a Chinese company, though.

tomkwok 11y ago
It has been... See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11177438 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11177438

gh02t 11y ago

I switched to opera on Linux recently as Chrome and then Firefox had gotten a bit slow or unstable for me as of late. Have to say, I am very pleased. It's tidy, fast and integrates in pretty well on Linux. It's also featured packed without the agonizingly long startups Chrome was giving me. I know they monetize with ads and such, but I haven't found them intrusive at all. I think one of their major sources is that they have a kind of Flipboard-esque feed of news articles on your home screen at the bottom. If that is where they do their advertising then it's a model of how to do it IMO. I've found that the articles it shows are genuinely things I want to read and it's not intrusive at all; in fact I'd miss it if it was gone.

bwat48 11y ago
Yeah people give the new Opera a pretty unfair rap, it's a good browser.

EugeneOZ 11y ago

Add inherited from Chrome dev console and awesome logo! ;) I'm trying to use it as main browser today. Only annoying thing is [x] button on the left side of the tab.