6 ms·

Ask HN: How would you monetize a Chrome extension with 85 000 users?

• x775 9y ago
  Assuming you have cleared things with Google / YouTube accordingly, what would a PRO version include? A donate button is nice, sure, but I seriously doubt you will see much traction through that - if any at all. Advertisement in addition to what I imagine is served through YouTube would personally make me want to avoid utilising your extension.
  • mindshifted 9y ago
    Good points. For a PRO version, these are the most requested features so far: Twitch support. Netflix support. Vimeo support. Youtube search & comments inside Sideplayer.
    • kbenson 9y ago
      So the question becomes how hard is it really for someone to offer something similar for the same or less (free?), or a dedicated side player for one of those offerings?
    • sharemywin 9y ago
      you might want to add some kind of music options.
      • mindshifted 9y ago
        Good one.
• kbenson 9y ago
  I think #1 or #2 are probably good ways forward (but I don't exactly have experience in this area). I think putting video ads in something that's meant to play Youtube with it's own ads (or not, if you paid to remove them from Youtube) is likely to run afoul of some odd clause in how Youtube is allowed to be embedded. If they are image ads, it's garish and uses valuable screen space, so people won't like it, The real question is whether you have interesting enough features to support a Pro version that aren't trivial enough to implement that someone will come by and offer the same thing for free. If the original app was $500 and is technically as simple as it seems, I wouldn't rely on it being hard to create a competitor to keep people from offering a free version that has all the features of your paid version. That is, unless you can secure a contract with some paid service that you can integrate with that others can't. Contracts are probably the best way to raise the bar for competitors, especially if you can secure an exclusive contract in some manner. I'm not sure what this would be, so it may not be feasible. In the end, I personally would probably go with a Donate or Patreon link (Patreon if you want to create more cool stuff (maybe for for free) and see if people will subsidize your projects. The alternative is to either get pressured from free offerings because your solution isn't hard enough to keep them away, or from paid competitors because the market warrants it, or maybe you sit right between them and it's hard enough that a free offering isn't as good or available, but it's too much pain for too little money for a competitor to compete. If you hit that sweet spot, it's probably easy money, but it might not be a lot of money (otherwise the competitors would still be trying).
  • mindshifted 9y ago
    Thanks, good stuff. Going for contracts is definitely an option. I really like the Patreon idea though. I've never thought about software as a content people can sponsor you for on Patreon. That's a really interesting concept and the reason I asked this question here. Long live HN.
• sharemywin 9y ago
  Why not try to keep it growing. are the server costs getting to high?
  • mindshifted 9y ago
    We are growing it, but also starting to think about monetization. Luckily there are no server costs with Chrome Extensions. At the moment our only costs are the website and domain.
    • sharemywin 9y ago
      I thought the chrome extension rendered a website with an embedded youtube player.
      • jrowley 9y ago
        The chrome extension contains all necessary assets locally, which then has the embedded video player in it. So no web host necessary, except for initial signups/explaining the product.
  • naturalgradient 9y ago
    Just out of curiosity, because I really do not know how this type of marketing works best. Is there not a a potential risk of users getting used to having it for free, and a potential advantage to introduce the idea of this being a paid product early?
• lsiebert 9y ago
  1, 2 and 4 are much more consumer focused. That's honestly a better way to go in terms of user/product alignment. Ads or Affiliate offers are things customers don't want, and they make it more likely people will pick a different app. Whatever you do, you'll have an easier time getting people to pay small amounts if you compare the amounts to something people buy everyday, like a vending machine candy bar, a 6 pack of soda, or a large pizza. People won't give you 20 bucks normally, but if they feel like they are paying for a pizza, they are much more likely to do so. Do the Donate button now and then consider a paid PRO version. Keep track of who donated so you can give them a free key to the pro version. If you do do donations, offer access to a special donation mailing list with voting for features, and prioritize them for bug reporting.
• umen 9y ago
  kaspersky antivirus do not allow this extension to run complains about : \Extensions\nicokganngdkmjiejngaacdlllkdpikn\0.1.1_0\bg.js what you have there ?