I want to address the elephant in the room, or rather, the browser in the installer. For the past few months, many of you have voiced your dissatisfaction with the inclusion of the Opera browser promotion in our software installers. I heard you. At the time, I defended the partnership. As a developer of free software, these partnerships are often necessary to cover server costs and development time without charging you, the user, directly.
I have been in this industry for over 30 years. I have managed successful partnerships with numerous software vendors, large and small. In all that time, I have never experienced the level of unprofessionalism and disregard for contractual ethics that I recently experienced with Opera.
Today, I am officially announcing that we are ending our partnership with Opera. But I believe you deserve to know exactly how it happened.
The Opera “Zero Notice” Policy
On November 12, 2025, I received an email from our account manager at Opera. They informed me that due to “internal limitations,” they were cutting off partners who did not generate at least 250 new users per day.
Rizonetech was consistently sending Opera close to 2,000 high-quality new users every month. While we didn’t meet their new arbitrary daily threshold, we were a steady, reliable source of traffic. I respect a company’s right to change its business strategy. If they want to cancel, that is their prerogative.
However, the way they executed this cancellation was unacceptable.
Here is the exact text from the email I received:
Due to internal limitations… we must focus our resources on partners generating at least 250 new users per day. Unfortunately, this means we’ll have to pause our collaboration at this time… from tomorrow the PPI rates for all New Users will be 0.
The Ethical Failure
Anyone who understands software development knows that you cannot simply “turn off” an installer integration overnight.
- The Logistics: Removing a bundled offer requires recompiling installers, updating the backend, and pushing those updates out to mirrors and users. It is a process that takes weeks to fully propagate.
- The Reality: By setting the rate to $0 “from tomorrow,” Opera was essentially demanding that I continue to work for them for free during the transition period. They knew fully well that my installers would continue to generate installs for them while I scrambled to remove their code.
They expected a smaller partner to donate thousands of users to a billion-dollar company during a forced wind-down.
The Breach of Contract
What makes this even more egregious is that it was not just unethical, it was a breach of our signed agreement.
Our contract contains a standard termination clause designed exactly for this situation. Clause 6.3 states:
Each party shall have the right to terminate this Agreement at any time and for any reason, by providing the other party ten business days’ written notice.
Opera attempted to bypass its own legal obligation by declaring the rate to be zero immediately, ignoring the 10-day notice period mandated by the contract we both signed.
Refusing to Panic
By setting the rate to $0 “from tomorrow,” Opera was effectively trying to pressure me into a panic. They know that removing bundled software from an entire library of tools is a massive logistical task involving recompiling installers, updating backends, and propagating files to mirrors.
They created a situation where I would either have to:
- Scramble and rush: Risking errors and breaking my own quality assurance processes to remove their code immediately.
- Work for free: Continue sending them thousands of users for weeks while I responsibly wind down the partnership.
I refuse to be pressured by Opera
I will not scramble. I will not panic. And I will not compromise the stability of my software just because a billion-dollar company decided to ignore its contract. I will take the time necessary to remove the Opera installers correctly, systematically, and at my own pace.
This means that for the next few weeks, you may still see the Opera offer in some of my tools.
I ask for your patience while this process is underway.
If you download a tool today and see the Opera offer, please know that I am aware of it and it is scheduled for removal. I am not being paid for it, and I no longer endorse it. I am simply refusing to let their emergency become my emergency.
To my loyal user base: Thank you for sticking with me. I will be far more selective with whom I choose to partner with in the future.
Derick Payne, CEO, Rizonetech
