Payments and content subscriptions for thebest entertainment appsare arguably the bane of the internet age, but for companies, they are a proven business model which generates recurring income. However, imagine an existence online where you just surf the web unhindered and your browser compensates content creators directly without your repetitive involvement. Chromium developers are working on such a system, thus creating an exciting future forour favorite browsers on Android.
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Some platforms like YouTube pay content creators a share of the ad revenue from their work, and channel memberships. It’s a sustainable and scalable system you’ll find all over the internet. However, keeping track of multiple subscriptions, their renewals, and utility can quickly become a chore. Brave Browser launched an innovative concept calledBasic Attention Tokensin 2017, eliminating dependency on subscriptions, allowing users to pay publishers directly with tokens awarded for watching ads.
Now,The Registerreports that Google’s Chromium development team is experimenting with a similar microtransaction-based system where a Chromium-based web browser like Google Chrome, Edge, or Brave, can automatically pay creators you visit online. This monetization model, calledWeb Monetization, has two important advantages — user involvement isn’t required for every transaction, and websites can passively accept small payments.
Transitioning into this change, users will need to set up a digital wallet within the browser, complete with controls to prevent misuse of funds. Partner websites will just need link tags in the header, and can then receive payouts from visitors. The payments are processed through theOpen Payments API, while alsogoverning amountsper visit stipulated by the Web Monetization framework.
Although most users may not bother with the technicalities, Chromium isn’t racing to add Web Monetization support as fast asGoogle is chasing AIdevelopments. TheChrome Platform Status pagefor the efforts reveals the project is in the prototyping stage ahead of Chromium implementation. That said, open source consultancy Igalia told The Register that Apple and Google are both interested in the idea of web monetization, so the future looks promising.
Since this is a pilot project with an indeterminate completion date, there’s no telling when the Chromium engine will support web monetization. Once Google crosses that milestone, developers for every browser will have to build support for it and familiarize users with the idea of such automated microtransactions. It’s a long road ahead, but one day, you may not have to pay large sums immediately for content you plan to enjoy later.
