The Future of the Web Browser keynote brought together Joshua Allen (Microsoft), Mike Shaver (Mozilla) and Brian Rakowski (Google) on a panel moderated by JSON creator Douglas Crockford who opened the session by apologizing for Opera not making the conference - their headquarters are in Norway, he explained. "Apple is about eight miles from here; you can do that drive in ten minutes if you're motivated. The reason they are not here is they do not want to talk with you," he said with a grin. And thus, the final session of the day began.

The first topic raised by Crockford was browser security, particularly with regard to add-ons. He asked the panel about risks and what is being done to mitigate them.

According to Allen, as IE has the largest market share, it's also the largest target and this constitutes significant risk. As a result, Microsoft invests heavily in security. Its latest security efforts include developing Web slices and accelerators within IE8.

Rakowsi suggested limiting the capabilities of add-ons would be an efficient measure to lessen security threats. "The Web security model, while not perfect, has been vetted," he said. "We're looking at an extension model that builds on that rather than native code," he explained.

Shaver agreed that limiting privileges and scope for add-ons is the future.

Proprietary Platforms on the Web

The next part of the discussion focused on proprietary platforms like Silverlight and Flash. Crockford claims the Web is under attack by these platforms that share the common disadvantage of not being open. "How does the Web remain competitive? Do these add-ons show the way for the Web to go forward?" he asked.

Rakowski's response was that the capabilities of these closed platforms need to be included in open standards and browsers. Shaver pointed out that the competition of Web browsers has led to many improvements, and Allen responded by saying that stories of threats to the Web are highly overrated. "The factor driving us is multiple vendors," said Allen, "No one controls a big enough portion, it will move as fast as we can work together."

Mobile Browsing and the Open Web

According to Crockford, the biggest threat to openness is mobile. "Out of desperation they're [mobile] looking at supporting the Web, but it looks like they're trying to keep it closed. Is it going to turn out that way?" he asked.

While the question wasn't answered directly by any of the panelists, Rakowski thinks we're going in the right direction. "Turning the mobile Web into the same thing as the PC Web seems to be the way of the future to me," he said. Shaver too sees the mobile Web as a huge opportunity. "The consumer experience has changed, and the Web experience on a mobile should be just as good as it is on a PC," he said.

Allen agreed that having a "really nice browser" on the phone is exciting, but saw it as a bit of wishful thinking and claimed that the mobile phone providers control not only bandwidth, but also infrastructure thus creating walled gardens. "We need to push for Net neutrality," he said.

Shaver disagreed with Allen saying that mobile providers will have a tough time locking users into services as mobile platforms become stronger. However, the Net neutrality issue is going to be one we "fight on for a long time," he said.

Alexa's Geoff Mack explained that if you want your add-ons distributed, the key is in exciting webmasters. "Offer them a benefit, be it social or monetary, and you'll find they will be more likely to promote your service or product," he said.

James Joaquin from Foxmarks, the startup we wrote about two years ago, explained that AMO (Addons Mozilla Org) has been a phenomenal source of distribution for Foxmarks. But getting on the front page is a trick, and Joaquin attributes much of that success to Foxmarks having a founder that has had a rich history on the Web: "Not so much for pulling strings, but for being there early," he said. Mitch Kapor, Foxmarks co-founder has a long history on the Internet, being the co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as the founding Board Chair of the Mozilla Foundation.

Alec Jeong from CoolIris explained that a vital element to consider when it comes to distribution is the touch points with your user; find out where your user will be, and then make sure you too have a presence there. CoolIris, the extension that transforms your browser into a 3D experience for enjoying online media, has also been working on building partnerships for distribution over the past six months.

Alex Iskold, founder of Adaptive Blue, the company that recently released Glue, confirmed the importance of getting onto central hubs like AMO, but also recommended using widgets as a way of distributing your product further. AMO, Iskold claims, accounts for 90% of downloads for his company. Glue, the new browser plugin that uses semantic technology to connect you to your friends and what they are enjoying was recently covered on ReadWriteWeb.

Monetizing the Add-on Business

Search, advertising, shopping, recommendations and services are the main methods of monetizing add-ons according to the companies presenting today, but which business model has the greatest opportunity for success? Well it turns out that much depends on your personal philosophy, resources, and capital; there is no one right answer.

Alexa, purchased by Amazon in 1999 hasn't been 'under the gun to earn,' according to Mack, who concedes it is a luxury not afforded to all companies.

OneRiot, the social search engine, is on the flip side of that coin; continuing to build toolbars for other people in order to generate short term revenue. Kimbal Musk recommends search boxes as a form of monetization, claiming that the company only recently added search to their toolbar but has seen unexpected growth and traffic: "People use the toolbar to search," he said.

Adam Boyden from Conduit, the company that provides website syndication solutions for Web publishers, says that search is secondary and that the company's entire business model is letting publishers put their interesting content on a toolbar.

And then you have advertising. Adaptive Blue wants to make commercial transactions without showing you an advertisement; CoolIris on the other hand is mostly concerned with giving you beautiful ads.

We've discussed whether browser extensions can be a business before, and if today's conference is any indication they can and are.

Whether add-ons are on your site, or across the wider Web, the business of add-ons has now proven itself to be capable of driving user engagement and attracting investment, and judging by today's sold out conference, one area of the Web that holds great interest.

Disclosure: AdaptiveBlue's CEO, Alex Iskold, is a feature writer for RWW.