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Google Contributor

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Re: Google Contributor

#101

Post by daxelrod »

koala_man wrote: post #42
d_j_b wrote: post #28

Google's model rests on the assumption that all the ads on the site will be Google ads, and as such this scheme comes with a fairly heavy incentive for content providers to carry Google ads only. Declaration of interest: we're trying to do something in the same space with content-that-should-be-or-is-paywalled with Financial Times articles on The Browser ( http://thebrowser.com )

If the model is that you bid on your own ad views at market value, why would it incentivize content providers to carry Google ads only?

People will likely complain that they paid for Contributor but still see ads on your participating site.

Re: Google Contributor

#102

Post by fairblocker »

dikaiosune wrote: post #40

Ideally, something like this could still contribute to the sites visited while the user has an adblocker enabled or JavaScript disabled. I would be quite happy to chip in to help sites display fewer ads, but it would be tedious to whitelist all of the participants just so they can get their contribution from my visit. In principle I am very interested in consciously supporting those who create the content I get compl…

We just launched almost exactly what you describe. It is called FairBlocker. An ad blocker with a monthly subscription fee (of your choice), which we then split up among the sites where ads are blocked.

We're looking for feedback from people who get the problem - what do you think? Feel free to email me directly if you want: zack@fairblocker.com

Re: Google Contributor

#103

Post by fairblocker »

taurath wrote: post #51

Its really important to be talking about this - the fact that current revenue streams are almost all based around advertising in media creates a bit of a race to the bottom - the more clicks you get the more money you make, so the only intrinsic motivation is to get more clicks (especially if you're a public company). Everything else is secondary even if its not marketed as such. If the primary goal of a site or proj…

I just launched a similar concept to bundled microsubscriptions, which I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, called FairBlocker. Its an ad blocker with a monthly subscription that we split up among sites and pay out to the publisher (aggregating microsubscriptions from all our users). Another way to go after a similar goal.

Re: Google Contributor

#104

Post by endianswap »

gcb0 wrote: post #97
TillE wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patreon really has been fantastic for individuals and small groups whom people actively want to support. From tons of small creators paying their rent to the bigger successes like Jim Sterling and RedLetterMedia. This seems targeted at larger, semi-faceless websites which may only be able to survive with tiny contributions from a mass audience. Imgur is probably the best example of that; it's infrastructure that peop…

imgur is backed by its parent company which also own reddit. they are doing fine as reddit simply does not exist without it

What? Where are you reading that? The only thing I could find was that reddit invested a small amount in Imgur and most of the investments have come from A16Z.

Re: Google Contributor

#105

Post by wbhart »

I would only use this if the first time I appeared on a website it asked me whether I wanted to add it to the list of sites I wanted to explicitly support.

That may seem intrusive, but otherwise this is going to (further) encourage content farms ripping off Wikipedia or just posting random material and optimising the hell out of its rankings (yes I know Google actively tries to stop this, but it just doesn't work well enough).

It's really important to distinguish money coming directly out of my pocket at someone else's whim, and advertising, where I need not purchase anything if I'm not interested.

Re: Google Contributor

#106

Post by lifeformed »

dpweb wrote: post #36

At the risk of being an unpopular opinion, advertising has been a huge boon in the growth of the Internet. I dislike the ad crazy "news" sites that bombard you and destroy the entire user-experience, but I would equate a not-too-intrusive advertisement as being not an obnoxious thing, and something that allows you to get something, not totally for free, but at the cost of a second of your attention. I'm sure popular…

> At the risk of being an unpopular opinion, advertising has been a huge boon in the growth of the Internet.

I look at that more of a necessary evil, kind of like the pollution from the industrial revolution. It got us this far, but now it's time to look for sustainable ways to make use of this growth.

Re: Google Contributor

#107

Post by fairblocker »

jonas21 wrote: post #76
koala_man wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Contributor is intended to directly benefit sites at all. If you use Contributor, the site receives $0.00136* and a blank ad is shown, paid for by you. If you don't use Contributor, the sites receives $0.00136 and an Initech ad is shown, paid for by Initech. It will make no direct difference in revenue for the site, but hopefully they can get indirect benefits from people being less inclined to use ad b…

I don't think that's how it works. It sounds like the CPM for a particular user's visits is determined by that user -- by the amount they choose to contribute per month and the number of pages on participating sites they view. So, depending on a site's audience and content, it seems like they could end up with a CPM that is much higher (or lower) than with ads.

What you describe is exactly how my product works (FairBlocker). We split up a user's chosen subscription among sites where they block ads... I imagine it is what Contributor is doing, too. The way it is working out for us is that a ~$6.5 / month subscription is equivalent to a ~$12 net CPM, though it varies depending on how heavy a browser the given user is. So, higher than what many small sites normally make, but also lower than many video ads or top-tier sites with their own sales teams.

Re: Google Contributor

#108

Post by Touche »

egypturnash wrote: post #60

A fraction of $3/mo? From a company that abandons projects left and right? I'll stick to Patreon, thanks. I'm making about $800 on a productive month now despite there being a pretty small audience for comics about a lesbian robot with PKD problems. I set "no ads for anyone" as my goal for like $50/p, which was still making far more than I ever did from ad impressions. Most people only contribute a buck or so a page…

Link?

Re: Google Contributor

#109

Post by nindalf »

bsbechtel wrote: post #77

On the surface this sounds great, but I also get the feeling this is solving a problem that doesn't exist. The billions of website that exist on the web should be proof of that.

Its a problem that doesn't exist, but will in a few years from now. Those billions of sites depend upon advertising revenue. As ad-blockers have become more popular, the rates that advertisers are willing to pay has fallen. Eventually we could see a majority of users block ads and sites would have to shut down for lack of revenue. This initiative can preempt that.

Also remember the overused line "if you're not paying, you are the product". This could lead to a web that doesn't depend on violating the privacy of its users to make a dime.

Re: Google Contributor

#110

Post by fairblocker »

dikaiosune wrote: post #44
suyash wrote: post #39

No thanks, AdBlocker works for me Google. Asking money for reading blogs, articles etc has not worked so far for most content heavy sites.

I think there's something to be said for an ad-free content "subscription" to the whole internet. I block all ads right now but I would still get the warm and fuzzies if I knew that I was free of ads and I was still paying a little bit to the people who create content online.

So... the product I just launched is identical to what you described. An ad blocker with bundled contributions, check it out if you want: fairblocker.com
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