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Comment by AlphaWeaver | Hacker News Reader

I'm also an extension developer, and Google has done this to me a few times too. We request permissions specifically for what we need, and our extension is unlisted and can only be installed from our website.

Google is a bully, and they use their size and the threat of permanently removing access to your Google Account (and family photos) to terrorize small players without cause.

How many people would Google need to hire to provide email support for extension review for extensions above a certain size? It can't be a huge dent in their budget.

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Not going to happen. This is an issue people have been raising for at least the better part of a decade... don't expect anything to change now.

A more productive approach would be to focus on web browsers that allow you to do what you need to and let Google fix what they need to encourage you back. I know, most extension developers will say 'we can't do that because it's where the users/customers/whoever are'. But as long as you encourage their bad behavior by supporting the platform, expect the bad behavior to continue since it's not hurting Google. As a result, it's just a cost of doing business on Google's platform which is unlike to change for the better.

Are you making a good faith suggestion that it's possible to build a business around a browser extension and not support Google Chrome?

They have something like 70% market share dude...

I believe the suggestion is to incorporate this "bully risk" in your business plan. Some business models might not be profitable anymore if you do this. Others just need additional diversification or more risk capital.

Chrome’s market share would drop if extension authors moved to an alternative.

As it is, it sounds like Google’s doing this itself by breaking popular extensions.

I think you overestimate the percentage of Chrome users who use Chrome for the extensions rather than other reasons ("it's fast", "it's what I'm used to", "I like Google", "Firefox is weird")

There's no way that any of this is going to meaningfully affect Chrome's market share.

maybe what we're really seeing is an alternative - users don't care enough about the quality of the extensions ecosystem. Otherwise browsers should be racing to have the best extension ecosystem.

Not exactly to your point, but you raise an excellent reason to never ever use your "personal" account for business things. Google, Amazon, YouTube, it's all the same.

It's all very convenient, until you lose access 10 years of e-mail because of a Chrome extension review.

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