How a Chrome Extension Became a Surprise Growth Channel
Hey IndieHackers!
We’ve been heads down building Adsby — an AI agent for PPC marketers that makes managing Google Ads easier and smarter. But as many of you know, building the product is only half the job. Getting it in front of the right people? That’s the real grind.
We’ve done the usual suspects:
SEO, content marketing, social posts. Some traction here and there, but nothing game-changing.
So, we tried something totally different.
💡The Idea: Build a Free Chrome Extension
We started by thinking about what matters most to any marketer on a daily basis — their competition.
It became clear: if we were managing ad accounts, the one tool we'd crave is one that gives us a quick snapshot of what our competitors are up to.
So, we built Competitor Ad Tracker — a free Chrome extension that shows live ads running on any site you visit.
No need to navigate cumbersome dashboards or wait for clunky reports. Just simple, one-click insights.
📈 What Happened Next
We didn’t expect much.
It was more of a “let’s see what happens” kind of project.
But then… the data came in:
Around 12% of users who installed the extension clicked through to our homepage.
That’s way higher than we anticipated — and it started driving real traffic to Adsby.
🎯 The Takeaway
Sometimes, the best growth channel isn’t another SEO tweak or social media post.
It’s about building something that taps directly into what users truly need — and giving it away for free.
The Chrome Web Store might not be the first place you’d think of for traffic.
But for us, it turned out to be a hidden gem.
I’d love to hear from the community —
Have you ever built a side tool that unexpectedly became a growth channel?
What other underrated distribution hacks have you discovered?
Let’s swap notes 👇
So true! Extensions are often underrated when it comes to distribution. We're betting on this too – using a free browser extension as a wedge to get into the eco-conscious brand ecosystem. Would love to hear more about your unexpected wins!
Building something genuinely useful and letting it attract is way more natural than typical outreach. Anyway did you validate the idea for Competitor Ad Tracker, or was it just a gut call based on your own needs?
This is such a smart way to tap into organic discovery. Chrome extensions are so underrated as growth levers — curious, did you optimize for SEO in the Chrome Web Store or just let it grow naturally?
This is brilliant, Berkay! 🔥 I love how you tapped into a real marketer's daily habit (checking on competitors) and turned it into a growth lever — no ads, no fluff, just solving a need. The 12% CTR to your homepage is super impressive for a Chrome extension 👏
It totally resonates with me — I recently left Google after 2 years working directly on Ads accounts (analyzed over 1500+) and just launched a no-fluff Google Ads strategy guide for B2B and B2C lead gen. It’s designed for founders and freelancers trying to make every euro/dollar count, without getting lost in automated setups that don’t deliver.
So while you’re helping marketers manage ads smarter, I’m helping them set things up right from day 1 😉
The link is on my page if anyone's curious!
Couldn't agree more with this article. I built a Chrome extension as my primary product (not as a growth channel) called Clear mail for Gmail (https://clearmailapp.com).
Some of the benefits of Chrome web store I see is that it gives you a boost on the Google search rankings itself (since CWS is a Google product) and many users who search within CWS for particular keywords may find your Chrome extension and may install it, giving you free source of traffic.
this is so interesting. thank you!
Leaving it as a growth channel is actually a smart move. I've actually had a product I wanted to sell, but I wanted everyone to have access to it because it's something my fellow copywriters needed. So I just made it free... but used it to build my email list for future purposes.
You can do the same thing too... using the growth channel as a lead magnet.
that's awesome, but to ensure success with every project, we've got to nail the marketing. no other way around it