I've been using Contributor for the last month or so: 1) One needn't turn on all third-party cookies to make it work. Enabling a subset of [*.]doubleclick.com, [*.]doubleclick.net, and [*.]google.com is sufficient. 2) Contributor is the best existing solution to the third-party micropayment problem I've yet encountered. Direct contributions to sites are surely preferable, but not yet practical. Contributor would appe…
A trend toward mass adoption of Contributor would pressure competing ad networks to develop similar systems with better UX (competing contributor-like systems might encourage ad networks other than the strongest one to work out exchange agreements to improve the UX and reach.)
> It installs a third party as a middleman, when only agreed-upon social and networking protocols are truly requisite. If Contributor were to take off, we run the risk of paying rent to Google for web-view transactions
You're already paying rent to advertising networks who pass on a portion to the content sites, its just that that rent is in the form of compromises to the format, delivery, and presentation of the content in order to fit ads in, rather than direct cash payments. Contributor (and any similar schemes) seek to transition that to direct cash payments, reducing the number of extraneous players involved (with ads, you have ad network + actual advertisers, with Contributor you just have the "ad" network.)