The web browser that pays you to watch ads
Last week, we started to ask you what topics you'd like to hear more about.
One response we received was:
"Cool use cases where blockchain tech provides real utility (I.e. is actually better than a faster cheaper centralized data base)"
Well, dear reader, we may have just found something for you.
Brave is an internet browser that has no ads or tracking by default - BUT, if you decide to allow ads to be shown to you, they pay you crypto to see them.
(They've been doing this since 2019).
Wild, right? Getting paid for your data and attention is a big part of Web3's promise - we love to see it!
But that's not the whole story...there's a caveat.
The browser is still interacting with websites that are hosted on centralized servers. From a user standpoint, if you're not giving over any of your data, that's fine (who cares where the site is hosted).
But from a site-owner's perspective, it can be a problem. It means your site's data is stored and tracked on a database that someone else has control over - like Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Plus, it guarantees yearly web hosting bills from now until the end of time.
Here's how that's about to change:
Brave are partnering with Unstoppable Domains to turn .nft, .wallet, .bitcoin, and .blockchain addresses into searchable domains.
(Right now they're mostly used as wallet addresses, aka 'crypto bank account numbers').
Here's a before and after of how a site visit will operate:
BEFORE: You type a url into your browser → your browser requests the site data from a centralized server (like AWS) → it loads on your screen.
AFTER: You type a Web3 domain url into your browser → your browser requests the site data from the decentralized IPFS network (which splits data across thousands of individual computers on its network) → the site loads on your screen.
It seems like a complicated process (and it is), but to users, the website loads just like any other.
And for site owners, they know they're not at the whims of price increases or data breaches from web hosting giants like Amazon and Google.
They just pay for the initial domain purchase...and that's it.
While Unstoppable's Web3 domains are not yet faster than those hosted on centralized databases, they are:
Waaay cheaper.
Have privacy baked into them, as standard.
Fully owned by the people that created them (not just rented from big tech companies).
Very cool!
