{"id":60,"date":"2008-06-29T23:16:04","date_gmt":"2008-06-30T07:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/basil\/?p=27"},"modified":"2009-05-06T15:07:27","modified_gmt":"2009-05-06T22:07:27","slug":"state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/","title":{"rendered":"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is a first in a series of blog posts that will try to articulate some background about add-ons in order to explore potential product directions for the Mozilla add-ons site (<a href=\"http:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\">AMO<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>First some facts and figures to help set the context and scale for Firefox add-ons.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are more than 180 million active monthly Firefox users (more than 60 million daily)<\/li>\n<li>There have been more than 800 million add-on downloads since the inception of AMO<\/li>\n<li>There are about 150 million active daily add-ons (Each add-on downloaded from AMO pings once a day)<\/li>\n<li>AMO hosts about 5600 add-ons and 800 themes<\/li>\n<li>We believe that there is a sizable number of add-ons not hosted on AMO (more than 1000?)<\/li>\n<li>The AMO site has about 4-5 million page views and more than 750,000 user sessions daily<\/li>\n<li>Every day 10-20 blog\/news articles are published reviewing or mentioning some Firefox add-ons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Basically, there is a <strong>TON<\/strong> of user and developer activity here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why are add-ons important?<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are core to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/about\/mozilla-manifesto.html\">Mozilla&#8217;s mission<\/a> to offer \u201cchoice &amp; innovation\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mozilla.com\/en-US\/firefox\/features\/#customization\">Customization<\/a> is a key differentiator for Firefox. Huge momentum versus <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ieaddons.com\/\">Internet Explorer<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/pimpmysafari.com\/\">Safari<\/a> (no official site), and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opera.com\/docs\/plugins\/\">Opera<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Add-ons have become a platform for innovation and experimentation and it&#8217;s relatively easy to get started<\/li>\n<li>Many startups have made their bet with the Firefox user base as the entry point<\/li>\n<li>Major web properties invest in building &amp; distributing add-ons<\/li>\n<li>We believe that Firefox users who have installed add-ons tend to be more loyal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>AMO&#8217;s Core Principles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Given the above, the AMO site&#8217;s function is to present end users with add-ons, keep them up to date and support the developers who publish these add-ons. The AMO development team focuses its efforts around four main guiding principles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Help users find and discover add\u2011ons in their local language<\/li>\n<li>Ensure the highest quality for what gets published<\/li>\n<li>Create a satisfied ecosystem of add-on developers, editors and translators<\/li>\n<li>Create the most comprehensive add-ons directory on the web<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In my next posts, we&#8217;ll explore the various constituents (End Users, Developers, Translators &amp; AMO Editors) that make up the add-ons ecosystem and their unique needs.<\/p>\n<p>(Note: we should recognize that even though the AMO site only supports <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/products\/\">official Mozilla products<\/a>: Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey and Sunbird. To look at the entire ecosystem, we need to examine the many <a href=\"http:\/\/mozpad.org\/doku.php?id=map_of_the_mozpad_universe\">XUL-based applications<\/a> and their support for add-ons. Many applications have their own dedicated add-on site such as the ones for <a href=\"https:\/\/extensions.flock.com\/addons\">Flock<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/addons.songbirdnest.com\/\">Songbird<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/developer.emusic.com\/dlm\/addons\">eMusic<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/community.activestate.com\/addons\">Komodo<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a first in a series of blog posts that will try to articulate some background about add-ons in order to explore potential product directions for the Mozilla add-ons &hellip; <a class=\"go\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,581],"tags":[459,577],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>State of the Add-ons Ecosystem - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Morgan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/\",\"name\":\"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-30T07:16:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-05-06T22:07:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/373fd84922ef95d8d5171d1a72770d4f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/\",\"name\":\"Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/373fd84922ef95d8d5171d1a72770d4f\",\"name\":\"Mike Morgan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff5890a3252cd74f006ee33360e71c76?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff5890a3252cd74f006ee33360e71c76?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mike Morgan\"},\"description\":\"Mike Morgan is the former Director of Web Development for the Mozilla Corporation.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/author\/morgamicmozillacom\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike Morgan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/","name":"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-06-30T07:16:04+00:00","dateModified":"2009-05-06T22:07:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/373fd84922ef95d8d5171d1a72770d4f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2008\/06\/29\/state-of-the-add-ons-ecosystem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"State of the Add-ons Ecosystem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/","name":"Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/373fd84922ef95d8d5171d1a72770d4f","name":"Mike Morgan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff5890a3252cd74f006ee33360e71c76?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff5890a3252cd74f006ee33360e71c76?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mike Morgan"},"description":"Mike Morgan is the former Director of Web Development for the Mozilla Corporation.","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/author\/morgamicmozillacom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}