I've been tracking my active daily users (ADU) on Firefox extensions I've published. Here's what the data looks like and what I've learned about organic growth for browser extensions.
The Context
I publish a small portfolio of Firefox extensions on Mozilla's Add-Ons (AMO) platform. Most were built as utility tools rather than growth experiments, but I've spent the last few months doing genuine organic growth work — community posting, content publishing, directory submissions.
None of this involved paid advertising.
What "ADU" Means
AMO (addons.mozilla.org) tracks ADU — Average Daily Users, defined roughly as unique users who had the extension active in a given day. It's a reliable, independent metric that I can't inflate.
The Numbers
My portfolio across 10 extensions hit:
- ~52 ADU in mid-October
- ~57 ADU a week later
The +5 growth in 11 days is modest but organic — I did nothing paid.
Weather & Clock Dashboard specifically: 9 ADU, growing from lower numbers as I've posted more targeted content.
What Has Actually Driven Growth
Mastodon: The Fediverse audience skews toward FOSS users and developers who are already Firefox users. Posting genuine content (not spam) in relevant hashtags (#Firefox, #Privacy, #OpenSource, #FOSS) drives measurable engagement and eventual installs.
Dev.to articles: Slow-burn SEO. Articles ranking for "Firefox extensions" or "new tab productivity" queries drive occasional installs. Not high volume, but persistent.
HN "Show HN": Attempted, but new HN accounts with 1 karma get posts marked [dead] automatically. The value here is near-zero for new accounts.
Reddit: IP-blocked from server. Low karma account gets posts removed. High potential if executed from a home browser with karma.
What Hasn't Worked
- Lemmy: Account got banned after too many posts (spam detection). New applications denied.
- BetaList: Requires $39 minimum for the free tier. Draft submitted but not published.
- SaaSHub: Blocks AMO and GitHub URLs — requires a standalone website.
- Product Hunt: Cloudflare blocks server IP. Needs manual submission from a home browser.
The Non-Obvious Lesson
The distribution of effort to impact is very uneven. Mastodon and Dev.to, while not the highest-priority channels in my growth plan, are consistently executable from automated workflows. Reddit, Product Hunt, and AlternativeTo have higher potential but require manual human action (account karma, IP trust, OAuth login from a non-server IP).
The takeaway: don't let "theoretically high-value" channels block execution on "actually executable" channels. Keep shipping content where you can while the high-value channels get unblocked.
What Weather & Clock Dashboard Does
For anyone reading this who hasn't tried it — it's a Firefox new tab replacement showing live weather + 3-day forecast + world clocks + search bar. MIT licensed, pure HTML/CSS/JS, no tracking.
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