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The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

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Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see how you might view it that way. On the other hand, let's say Chrome started replacing all non-Adsense ads on every site you visited with Adsense ads -- without notifying the webmaster no less. Then, if the content creator decided they'd like their cut of the revenue, they had to sign up for Adsense. And if they didn't, Google would just pocket it 90 days later. I don't think you'd be as sympathetic to Googl…

Your scenario doesn't reflect how Brave's model works at all - it just reflects various misconceptions on your part. Brave does not replace publisher ads with their own. Brave does not block first party ads. Google's search ads display. Facebook's ads display. Twitter's ads display. Brave does block other ads by default, and as a user agent, it's reflecting the valid, ethical choices of the user not to load the untru…

> Brave does not replace publisher ads with their own.

It absolutely both blocks (many) pre-existing ads and places its own ads. Those are both overt features of the browser.

> If a user opts-in to Brave's ad ecosystem, then they've also made a decision about what content funding model they want to support.

It's not really a content funding model, since whether Brave shows (and derives revenue) for ads or not (and whether it blocks the ads the content supplier has decided to place or not) has nothing to do with any agreement or payment to the content source; it's a browser funding model.

The content funding model it (indirectly) promotes is the covert “organic” advertising model, where rather than being separated and distinguished from the editorial content, the promotional content is integrated with and inseperable from the organic content.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#162
post #148

Brave is just an intermediary that replaces ads with other ads. It's an adnetwork delivered as a browser that creates ad inventory on top of the page instead of within it. That being said, the tokens are basically worthless. This is not what the digital advertising industry wants and Brave is not going to get any decent advertisers with this. They'll end up with the same shady affiliate/performance marketers running…

I was under the impression you could also pay the content producer directly to bypass ads, which is IMHO the ideal solution. Is this no longer viable?

No it's still possible, but doesn't seem viable. Microtransactions have been tried several times. We experimented ourselves. Very hard to get users to pay for something that has always been free, especially when the ads are already blocked.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Brave does not replace publisher ads with their own.

They literally do. They remove ads on the page. Then they show their own ads to the user.

This has been a consistent dishonest mischaracterisation: that Brave literally swaps a publisher's own ads with their own.

That functionality is on the roadmap, but Brave has stated that will only occur with publisher consent.

Keep an eye out for accounts that try to push this mischaracterisation and see if they're linked to the existing ad tech industry...

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#164
post #26

Brave is just an intermediary that replaces ads with other ads. It's an adnetwork delivered as a browser that creates ad inventory on top of the page instead of within it. That being said, the tokens are basically worthless. This is not what the digital advertising industry wants and Brave is not going to get any decent advertisers with this. They'll end up with the same shady affiliate/performance marketers running…

This was tried during the first dot-com boom as well! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllAdvantage

It's another sign that we're heading for 1999 part 2. I remember what the end of the last boom felt like, and I'm definitely getting the same tingly feeling now.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlike you I use my real name here. I'm honest, straightforward, informed, and will state whatever commentary I want, backed up with over a decade of experience in advertising and tech. Skip the personal jabs and put up an actual argument. >> Microtransactions are about user behaviour and tech. Cool. As I said, the tech part is easy and has been solved plenty of times before. What's the solution to user behavior? Bra…

You're a competitor heavily invested in the current ad-tech ecosystem casting shade on a competitive model by relying on a bunch of mischaracterisations and false assertions. Knowing this and re-reading your contributions (and particularly this last one) suggests there's no useful debate to be had here.

That's not an argument. Yet again you post from an anonymous account about my personal character instead of debating the actual points raised.

You're also incorrect because I don't compete with Brave and have no vested interest in adtech. I actually spent time and money on regulation and our marketing SaaS works the same regardless of environment.

Almost all of your comments on this page consist of you telling other people that they are mischaracterizing while offering no clear arguments of your own.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#167
post #73

According to the article, Eich will pay you in a "cryptocurrency" which cannot be exchanged for cash. > Brave will give users a 70 percent cut of its advertising revenue, which Eich estimates could work out to about $5 a month. Brave will pay users with its own bitcoin-style "cryptocurrency” called Basic Attention Tokens or BAT, which has traded for as little as 12 cents and as much as 46 cents over the past 12 month…

> Today, there’s no way for users who receive BAT for viewing ads to swap their digital currency for dollars, but Eich says Brave will partner with cryptocurrency exchanges to make that possible. I'm confused by this statement - there are currently several exchanges you can use to trade BAT for USD. Is this suggesting that the UI will be made more clear in the future, or are users actually blocked from withdrawing BA…

Right now Brave require a creator account to be linked to Uphold which automatically exchange BAT to USD (at a 1.95% fee). Uphold balance can also be withdraw to a bank account in the US or to other cryptocurrency.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would advertisers bid higher when this is not the only channel and comes with less targeting and increased fraud potential? Why would users opt-in at all to see ads when they're already blocked? There seems to be missing component of why both sides want to interact through the Brave network.

> Why would advertisers bid higher when this is not the only channel and comes with less targeting and increased fraud potential? Brave's model - like all ad-supported ones - depends upon them getting very big, enough that they get a substantial fraction of total user attention. They're going for this by blocking all existing ads, which in today's web makes the browser significantly faster and less annoying. They're…

"“A lot of users don’t want to cash out [when they receive BAT],” he added. “It’s not a huge amount of value for most people, so they may prefer to just use it to give back."

In that case, it's just an ad network. Users watch ads, publishers get paid. Only difference is a new middleman and 2 hops for payments.

Also if the money does add up to a sizable amount then it will be overrun by ad fraud.

Re: The Brave Browser Will Pay You to Surf the Web

#170
post #47

I think the privacy crowd drawn to Brave couldn't care less what the (current) digital advertising industry wants. Anyone who's been involved in the current ad-tech industry knows it's a total tire fire of fraud, technical incompetence and deep hostility to end-users. Brave's model is very interesting and also a threat to the current ad-tech cesspool, so there should be no surprise to see attempts to misinform people…

If you want advertisers, you need to care about what the industry wants. Obviously that's for Brave to deal with, not the users, but showing ads for money is an ad network. Microtransactions have been tried many times. I spent half a million testing it. Didn't work because of user behavior. And unless users are buying with their own money, it's just converting the BAT they earn from ads into BAT they pay the publishe…

> If you want advertisers, you need to care about what the industry wants

No no. If you want advertisers you need to offer a return on investment. That's it. Any rational advertiser is going to pump as much money as has a return into advertising.

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