Opera gives away ad-free browser
No strings attached
By John Leyden
Published Tuesday 20th September 2005 09:55 GMT
Opera Software has permanently dropped the inclusion of advertising
banners in the free version of its PC browser software. The ad-free,
full-featured Opera browser is now available for download here.
The browser was previously available free of charge with an ad
banner. Users had the option of paying a licensing fee to remove the
ad banner and receive premium support. One to three per cent of users
purchased this license and that along with revenue from search
engines and the sale of ads made up the three almost equal revenue
streams for Opera's PC business. Opera will continue to sell premium
support at the reduced price of €24 per year.
"Removing the ad banner and licensing fee will encourage many new
users to discover the speed, security and unmatched usability of the
Opera browser," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, chief exec of Opera
Software.
By giving away its browser without string attached Opera hopes to
boost its market share and thereby make more revenue from search
engines, an Opera spokesman explained. The firm hopes this extra
revenue will more than offset loss of income from licensing over the
long term. Opera's PC software business generates roughly half the
income of its devices (set-top box and mobile) operation.
Users more familiar with IE or Firefox will find a number of
significant differences with Opera that may enhance their browsing
experience. Opera's browser lets users start from where their last
browsing session ended or to save their entire session. Integrated
security features with the browser also put it ahead of the game in
defending against phishing attacks. But don't take our word for it:
make up your own mind by downloading the latest (version 8.50) of the
browser software here.
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