[Johnny555]

If there are no ads, they, and all their peers cease to exist....Or else they go full paywall.

You didn't mention the other options -- publishers could get together and come up with a micropayment standard so users can pay the few cents for each view that the advertiser would have earned from ads.

I use an ad blocker, not because I am opposed to paying for content I view, but because ads are annoying and distracting, and I'd be happy to pay them the money they are earning from ads.

But what I'm not willing to do is pay "just $3.99 for unlimited access to our site!". I'm not going to pay $50/year for access to a site that I might only visit a couple times a month or less.

But let me fund $10 a month into a micropayment account, and then dole out payment for each page view, and I'll gladly sign up -- as long as it's an open standard so with one funding account I can visit pretty much any micropayment site.

[bduerst]

You literally just described Google Contributor:

https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/

They show cat pictures instead of ads, while still letting you pay a couple pennies to the publishers.

[Dylan16807]

If it was just paying publishers a portion per page that would be okay. I don't like this setup of trying and sometimes failing to outbid ads at whatever price that keyword is this second.

It still fails the 'open standard' test.

[bduerst]

What makes you think they're bidding against ads?

It allows you to do what you described as wanting for most sites, and you're not going to use it because it's not perfect? You should try it.

[Dylan16807]

> What makes you think they're bidding against ads?

"Here’s how it works: when Contributor users visit a site in Google’s network, their monthly contribution is used to bid on their behalf in the ad auction—so they, rather than an advertiser, end up buying the ad slot."

> It allows you to do what you described as wanting for most sites, and you're not going to use it because it's not perfect? You should try it.

Someone being able to pay extra to get past my ad blocking is not what I want. Nor do I like the way money is allocated from such a system. But beyond that, being adsense-only means it doesn't affect the worst quarter of ads, and I can't even lobby those sites or ad networks to join the micropayment system. Also the system I want has a "this site tricked me, don't give them money" button.

If it could merge with flattr and invite other companies, then it would have a real path forward toward an ad-free landscape and I would be much more willing to use it.

[angry_octet]

And anonymity would be nice too, or at least opacity. I don't need my payment provider knowing exactly which content I'm reading.

Patreon has a lot going for it in the sense that if you support stuff you like, you will see more of it.

[ec109685]

Do you at least utilize the Google contributor network, which is just such a micro payment system?