New browser that pays you to watch ads or you can choose that you watch none

[tecate]

There's a new web browser launching - Brave - which does the following;


- blocks ads
- As a consequence - web browsing is up to 8x faster.
- Pays you to watch ads if you choose to watch them
- Allows you to contribute to content providers.

 

[Leo]

Interesting idea, they don't call out how you'll be 'rewarded' beyond the option to reward content producers if you choose to see ads and earn credits.

Others like Epic Privacy browser (also Chromium based) have attempted to go all out in disabling tracking and ads, but Google has stymied their growth with a change in white label search rules that no longer serves them ads unless they reveal users' full IP addresses.

 

[tecate]

Interesting idea, they don't call out how you'll be 'rewarded' beyond the option to reward content producers if you choose to see ads and earn credits.

Content providers are rewarded in cryptocurrency tokens. A cryptocurrency (BAT) has been launched specific to the browser. There are two options - the user can choose to tip the content provider or choose to view ads and be paid in crypto - then having the ability to choose to distribute the crypto to one or more content providers. Naturally, content providers have to register in order to receive contributions.
Could be one for @Brendan Burgess to try out. Tipping is one thing but to encourage people to view ads (that they would otherwise be exposed to anyway - ordinarily) and automatically set the browser to distribute those funds to AAM - sounds like a no brainer and that user support could be garnered for that.

A couple of screenshots which illustrate the above - here.

Others like Epic Privacy browser (also Chromium based) have attempted to go all out in disabling tracking and ads, but Google has stymied their growth with a change in white label search rules that no longer serves them ads unless they reveal users' full IP addresses.

I can't find the info on the backend technicals on how they achieve this. However, it is the work of a mozilla co-founder - so from that respect, it has credibility.

 

[Leo]

Content providers are rewarded in cryptocurrency tokens. A cryptocurrency (BAT) has been launched specific to the browser.

Yeah, spotted that, but no mention of how you can cash those in or how they are valued.

Tipping is one thing but to encourage people to view ads (that they would otherwise be exposed to anyway - ordinarily) and automatically set the browser to distribute those funds to AAM - sounds like a no brainer and that user support could be garnered for that.

It is an interesting business model alright. For revenue, they depend on people choosing to see ads. So it's an ad blocker where they need you to chose to see ads, perhaps limited to a subset of trusted publishers. To service the ads, you end up with all the tracking that users of alternative browsers usually look to avoid. Google services and most other won't serve paid ads unless the browser provides them with sufficient data to track and profile the user.

I can't find the info on the backend technicals on how they achieve this. However, it is the work of a mozilla co-founder - so from that respect, it has credibility.

They use a combination of methods, proxying and anonymising all requests, removing all referrer information from requests, blocking all third party cookies and clearing first party cookies and cached data on exit.

 

[tecate]

Yeah, spotted that, but no mention of how you can cash those in or how they are valued.

Basic Attention Token (BAT) is a fully fledged cryptocurrency. Its value you can find here. Click on the 'markets' tab to see where it can be traded.

 

[tecate]

It is an interesting business model alright. For revenue, they depend on people choosing to see ads. So it's an ad blocker where they need you to chose to see ads, perhaps limited to a subset of trusted publishers. To service the ads, you end up with all the tracking that users of alternative browsers usually look to avoid. Google services and most other won't serve paid ads unless the browser provides them with sufficient data to track and profile the user.

It seems they have stripped out the evil parts of that Chromium base they're using to deal with the google services issue. You can read more on that here.

Revenue breaks down as 15%/15%/70% - user/brave platform/content provider - for ad revenue.

 

[Leo]

It seems they have stripped out the evil parts of that Chromium base they're using to deal with the google services issue. You can read more on that here.

Yeah, but what they don't call out is that the calls to serve ads are separate, and without providing the tracking data with the ad request, you don't get the revenue.

 

[tecate]

Yeah, but what they don't call out is that the calls to serve ads are separate, and without providing the tracking data with the ad request, you don't get the revenue.

Ok, but it sounds like you have the option to go either way. That's the way personal data markets are developing. The user can take back control of it - and decide if they want to give it away - at a cost.

 

[Leo]

Ok, but it sounds like you have the option to go either way. That's the way personal data markets are developing. The user can take back control of it - and decide if they want to give it away - at a cost.

Yeah, true, and at least by default everything is blocked. Some of the more ad revenue dependent sites will block traffic from such browsers. But hey, most of us can live without access to the Kilkenny People Firefox has great privacy & ad-blocking capabilities in a better supported browser, but you do need to tweak a few settings to get there.

 

[Firefly]

There's a new web browser launching - Brave - which does the following;


- blocks ads

I've just tried this & can now actually see content on indepedent.ie and thejournal.ie without those massive ads.
Thanks!

 

[tecate]

I've just tried this & can now actually see content on indepedent.ie and thejournal.ie without those massive ads.
Thanks!

No worries. I wasn't happy when I first used the browser as I had difficulty with a few sites...but just need to change a couple of settings re. the 'brave shields' tab (top right) if that happens.

Be sure to sign up for 'rewards'. We'll make a crypto user out of you yet :-D