How much do we have to pay to flip through memes?
The team behind Chromium, an open source project that underpins Google Chrome and other browsers, has started working on an innovative feature that will allow Internet users to pay for the content they view without any interaction.
Web Monetization Technology (Web Monetization) is a specification under development that will allow sites to automatically receive payments from visitors via a web browser and a designated payment system, bypassing advertisers.
Web Monetization technology provides content creators and site owners with the ability to receive micropayments from users who interact with their content, without having to rely solely on ad revenue or subscriptions. A distinctive feature is the ability to make small payments without direct user participation.
Micropayments, despite their development and introduction in various forms since the birth of the Internet, have long caused skepticism among experts. But with recent advances in cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance, blockchains, digital wallets, and popular payment systems like PayPal and Stripe, many attempts have proven otherwise, despite the complexities involved in handling microtransactions.
Web Monetization will work through the Open Payments API, an open standard for facilitating microtransactions on the network, implemented through a wallet and allowing transfers between two wallets. Users will be offered a digital wallet, and publishers will be offered to embed a special tag in their site (<link rel= "monetization" href=" https://wallet.example/alice" ; />). Site users who have linked their digital wallet to the browser will be able to automatically transfer funds to publishers.
Apple and Google have already expressed support for Web Monetization, while Mozilla has shown more limited interest. The implementation of the specification in Chromium will ensure sufficient distribution of the technology for experiments, although the date of completion of testing has not yet been set.
Micropayments continue to be the technology of the future, but that future may be closer than it seems. Research firm Forrester predicts that in 2024, micropayments will move out of the niche and become an alternative to subscriptions. Despite obstacles such as security, scalability, reliability, and transaction costs, as well as the mental burden of evaluating the fairness of a penny price, the industry is making significant strides towards implementing such a promising idea.
The team behind Chromium, an open source project that underpins Google Chrome and other browsers, has started working on an innovative feature that will allow Internet users to pay for the content they view without any interaction.
Web Monetization Technology (Web Monetization) is a specification under development that will allow sites to automatically receive payments from visitors via a web browser and a designated payment system, bypassing advertisers.
Web Monetization technology provides content creators and site owners with the ability to receive micropayments from users who interact with their content, without having to rely solely on ad revenue or subscriptions. A distinctive feature is the ability to make small payments without direct user participation.
Micropayments, despite their development and introduction in various forms since the birth of the Internet, have long caused skepticism among experts. But with recent advances in cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance, blockchains, digital wallets, and popular payment systems like PayPal and Stripe, many attempts have proven otherwise, despite the complexities involved in handling microtransactions.
Web Monetization will work through the Open Payments API, an open standard for facilitating microtransactions on the network, implemented through a wallet and allowing transfers between two wallets. Users will be offered a digital wallet, and publishers will be offered to embed a special tag in their site (<link rel= "monetization" href=" https://wallet.example/alice" ; />). Site users who have linked their digital wallet to the browser will be able to automatically transfer funds to publishers.
Apple and Google have already expressed support for Web Monetization, while Mozilla has shown more limited interest. The implementation of the specification in Chromium will ensure sufficient distribution of the technology for experiments, although the date of completion of testing has not yet been set.
Micropayments continue to be the technology of the future, but that future may be closer than it seems. Research firm Forrester predicts that in 2024, micropayments will move out of the niche and become an alternative to subscriptions. Despite obstacles such as security, scalability, reliability, and transaction costs, as well as the mental burden of evaluating the fairness of a penny price, the industry is making significant strides towards implementing such a promising idea.
