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Google Starts Charging a Signup Fee For Chrome Extension Developers
trooperer writes "On Thursday, Google introduced two significant changes in the Google Chrome Extensions Gallery: a developer signup fee and a domain verification system. The signup fee is a one-time payment of $5. The announcement says its purpose is to 'create better safeguards against fraudulent extensions in the gallery and limit the activity of malicious developer accounts.' Developers who already registered with the gallery can continue to update their extensions and publish new items without paying the fee."
Google also made available a developer preview for the Chrome Web Store.
how do you like them apples?
So you have to pay a fee to register an extension with them. So what?
I mean, ok, yes, I can see why I might prefer to be listed in Firefox's extension gallery for free, but there's nothing stopping me from distributing the extension on my own, via a third party.
I won't budge until they drop the fee to 4.99.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
The $5 is probably a way for them to be able ID anyone who wants to sneak malicious code into an extension. If they have your CC number they have a pretty good way of knowing who you might be. If they took cash the $5 wouldn't stop anyone who wanted to poison their extension. A verifiable electronic payment will prevent most of those who might try it.
Paypal does same for same purpose and charges $1, to put it back in 24 hours. Does Google do it? Or they can't afford? (!)
What does your post have to do with liking them apples? Anyways, in terms of money consider that had they implemented this program from day 1 they would have netted about $30,000 had every developer paid the $5, and those developers are getting grandfathered in for free. Obviously it's not about the money for them.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Considering the bandwidth costs and the fact that (most?) extensions don't make them any money
Of course, extensions generally improve the browser, by providing features the browser doesn't. Firefox is a good example, which would quite likely be forgotten by many of its users if it weren't for it's many good extensions. Quite simply: more extensions, more users, more revenue.
> Man, really does apple.com or google.com has some very advanced background mind programming graphic so some people becomes rather like cult members?
No, but they have people releasing code for their platform who view the $5 charge in the same way they view their ISP/electricity/book costs - as part of doing business.
You're from the school of silver bullets. If it won't work to a high degree, it's completely worthless. You might note that Google is not without resources in identifying the difference between a valid CC number and one found floating down some pipe in the intertubes.
If half of the malicious lamers are too stupid to notice this, then Google has improved the signal to noise ratio in policing their chrome extension developers by 3dB.
It's a minor barrier to malfeasance. It discourages sock puppets. And it sends the message "we care" which is the main reason aggressively scrubbing graffiti off trains in NYC works so effectively.
The downside? Fewer chrome extensions written by the next teenage African Einstein. And shirt-rending despair over failure to attain the requisite degree of silver-bullet superhero mojo. Yet another superhero impostor. It's a tough life.
That's sort of like saying that you always find something you've lost in the last place you look. That's because once you find it you stop looking.
You generally don't hear about new fees for previously free services until after they're announced because they usually only tell you about them after they implement them.
All it takes is $1 dollar (or in this case, 5), and 90% of your "annoying" userbase goes away, where annoying is spammers, cheaters, jokesters, etc. Anyone seriously wanting to cause trouble still will, but bored kids out for a thrill won't bother. In this case, it likely has the benefit of washing out any DOA projects that will just clog up searches. Anyone serious about creating project won't really blink at the cost, since it's so small, even if they don't plan to make money themselves. If you want quantity over quality, leave a user-generated content service free. If you want quality over quantity, charge a nominal fee. Works very well I've found.
It would be nice if they waived fees for people who have had active gmail accounts for > 4 years, or something like that. Any geek worth their salt has had an account since mid-2005. I'm no developer, but I've tinkered around with extensions before in the past, just to see what they can do. Had there been a $5 fee in place, I'd have never jumped that hurdle to just poke around with the code.
moox. for a new generation.