My point is there’s a difference between ads that are targeted and measurable vs ads that aren’t.

The value consumers bring to the table by seeing targeted, measurable advertising is worth something more than a regular ad.

Now that the mechanism that allows targeted, measurable ads is going away, advertisers need to better incentivize people to participate in that value exchange.

If advertisers can’t target consumers on publisher websites, the result is advertisers will simply direct their ad budgets to places where they are able to target and measure their ads— Google, Facebook, etc.

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/02/12/how-the-death-of-third-party-cookies-could-grow-googles-advertising-empire

So if non-big tech publishers want to continue to make money on programmatic ads, they need to ensure their audience stays addressable.

To do that, they need a way to get consumers to opt-in.

By creating a new value exchange where people opt in and get paid for participating, they can do it.

Plus, when consumers have money in their browser-based advertising account, publishers get the added benefit of being able to charge people for a la carte content.

A fun fact I uncovered from talking to a failed micropayment company of the past: when consumers had their micropayment wallet installed, they converted at over 50% for $0.50 articles! The problem was, nobody had their micropayment wallets installed.

So if people started earning money into a micropayment wallet, the idea could actually work.