> Many popular browser extensions were bought up by data brokers that use them to exfiltrate browser history, so not sure if they’re underrated
I would say, as the developer of an upfront paid web browser extension, that upfront paid web browser extensions are underrated. ;-)
It's a truism that if you're not the customer, you're the product. But what if you are the customer? I think a lot of the mistrust of browser extensions is due to the difficulty in monetizing extensions directly. If you're making nothing from an extension, and someone offers you a nice check to acquire the extension, it can be difficult to turn down that money, especially if the extension is a support burdern for the developer. Of course I have my price too, as almost everyone does, but at this point the price would have to be 7 figures (maybe 8??), which I don't think anyone would ever pay for my extension. My user base is relatively small, and thus doesn't provide a huge opportunity for data collection or other nefarious schemes, precisely because the extension is paid rather than free.
Sidenote: The "collaboration" offers come from time to time even to non-extensions projects, if they are reasonably widely used. E.g. simple tools (rather widely used suite of android apps recently sold).
This is fantastic. Too bad they redacted the names. These scumbags deserve to be known. And the saddest part of the story is you don't know if is true or a cover-up. On the other hand it appears to be MIT. Are Google Chrome extensions reproducible?
Yup, and he won't care about the criminal investigation because from other side of iron curtain v2. But if you're from the side where the nation isn't the cover for criminal enterprise you could get in trouble.
The only difference between a paid and unpaid piece of software is the revenue stream. In a paid software, your incentive to not screw over existing users is because your app would get poorer ratings and you won't acquire new paying customers. I've seen many times where a paid app stops growing as much and turns into a subscription model or becomes unpaid, giving paid users some small benefit (or nothing at all) and starts screwing over all users indiscriminately.
Something that’d help here is if extension galleries displayed price tags and let you filter by paid (bonus points for being able to distinguish between one-time and subscription).
Upfront payment does not exclude further monetization at the expense of the user. If anything, it is a signal that the developer is motivated by money.
> If anything, it is a signal that the developer is motivated by money.
Duh?
Who isn't motivated by money, though? The frequent acquisition of free extensions proves that even open source developers are motivated by money too.
The issue, again, is the identity of the customer. Is the customer you, the extension user, or is the customer the advertisers, making you the product?
I would say, as the developer of an upfront paid web browser extension, that upfront paid web browser extensions are underrated. ;-)
It's a truism that if you're not the customer, you're the product. But what if you are the customer? I think a lot of the mistrust of browser extensions is due to the difficulty in monetizing extensions directly. If you're making nothing from an extension, and someone offers you a nice check to acquire the extension, it can be difficult to turn down that money, especially if the extension is a support burdern for the developer. Of course I have my price too, as almost everyone does, but at this point the price would have to be 7 figures (maybe 8??), which I don't think anyone would ever pay for my extension. My user base is relatively small, and thus doesn't provide a huge opportunity for data collection or other nefarious schemes, precisely because the extension is paid rather than free.