Google Contributor: A New (not so new) way to fund the web

[wraith808]

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

Contributor by Google
An experiment in additional ways to fund the web.
Today’s Internet is mostly funded by advertising. But what if there were a way to directly support the people who create the sites you visit each day?

Introducing Contributor by Google.

My largest problem with this... is that it's by Google.

The basics

Choose a monthly contribution.

Visit participating sites.

Support the people who make the web.

It seems a lot like patreon.

Visit participating sites.
When you visit a participating website, part of your contribution goes to the creators of that site. As a reminder of your support, you’ll see a thank you message - often accompanied by a pixel pattern - where you might normally see an ad.

In theory, it seems like a good idea.  In practice... well, Google long ago abandoned the do no evil pledge.

[mouser]

Everything you just said.  It's a great idea.  It's not new.  Here comes google to stomp on in and trample in on top of the existing services and then abandon the field when they get bored.
On the other hand, the great PR machine that is google will mean this idea gets much more coverage and attention that it could have otherwise, and there is always the possibility they will help the idea succeed.

[Deozaan]

It sounds more like flattr than patreon to me.

[mouser]

According to this:

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/google-contributor/

In exchange for your support, you’ll see “thank you” messages where ads used to be—at least on the websites that participate in the program.

So let me get this straight, Google is going to be pushing you to cover your site in their ads, and then give people a way to throw some pennies at you in order to turn the ads into thank you images, and they take a cut of the money in the process?

This seems like an extremely cynical way to corrupt more sites into getting onto the google ad serving bandwagon, and just another step further down the road of ensuring that everyone is monetizing everything.
"Want people to be able to support your site? First cover it in ads, then we'll talk."

[anandcoral]

"Want people to be able to support your site? First cover it in ads, then we'll talk."

Similar to malware which encrypt our data first and then talk 

Need enhanced ad blocker now.

Regards,

Anand

[wraith808]

It sounds more like flattr than patreon to me.

There are several that do the same thing.  But yes, Patreon does the exact same thing as Flattr + more.  I support several websites through Patreon in exactly this manner.

I applied for a sign-up just to see how this actually works or they think it should work in practice...

[TaoPhoenix]

According to this:

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/google-contributor/

In exchange for your support, you’ll see “thank you” messages where ads used to be—at least on the websites that participate in the program.

So let me get this straight, Google is going to be pushing you to cover your site in their ads, and then give people a way to throw some pennies at you in order to turn the ads into thank you images, and they take a cut of the money in the process?

This seems like an extremely cynical way to corrupt more sites into getting onto the google ad serving bandwagon, and just another step further down the road of ensuring that everyone is monetizing everything.
"Want people to be able to support your site? First cover it in ads, then we'll talk."

You're on to something, only Google threatens to make it non-niche.
A. Blanket ads
B. Pay to remove ads

Until now it was little experiments. But Google has the money to threaten to make it "normal".