Google Contributor Lets You Pay And And See No Ads In Your Favorite Sites
Google's Contributor is a new tool that allows internet users visit websites and enjoy ad-free content as long as they have previously paid a subsription fee. Contributor is a Google experiment in additional ways to fund the web.
Today’s Internet is mostly funded by advertising. Google is offering internet users a way to directly support the people who create the sites they visit each day without needing to see their ads.
Users should first choose a monthly contribution, ranging from $1-3. When they visit a participating website, part of their contribution goes to the creators of that site. A thank you message - often accompanied by a pixel pattern - will be placed on the website where users might normally see an ad.
The initial launch of Contributor will include only 10 partners, among them Imgur, Mashable, and The Onion.
The tool could help publishers monetize users with annoying them. It's unclear whether it would have a success, since many users would not bother participating to it - they may already use ad blockers after all. It could be also considered as an alternative to content subsription schemes already used by some web sites. And of course, it remains a good way for Google to get some extra cash from those who will opt-in - possibly the same people we previously saw using ad blocks.