Good old-fashioned internet advertising has been under threat since ad-blockers came onto the scene. Now, Google’s bringing in a mainstream way for ad channels to claw back some of the earnings.

Get paid

They program—‘Funding Choices’—claim to ‘help publishers get paid for their work by reducing the impact of ad blocking’.

Content publishers whose ad revenues were cut by ad-blockers, now get a chance to renew ad sales or replace the lost income with subscriptions.

Users’ choice

Funding Choices detects ad-blockers and shows the user a (customisable) message. They can choose to either: 1) enable ads on the site, or, 2) pay to see the site without ads.

Of course, Google has a linked service—Contributor—to collect and manage such payments.

Optionally, publishers can let users see some content for free, requiring pay-for-access after hitting a limit. This may establish a baseline of quality prior to asking for payment.

Monetisation ethic

Funding Choices embraces a similar idea to TrueView: users more readily accept of ads if given a choice about whether they see them.

Consumers who care deeply about being ad-free will subscribe. Others will accept ads back on their screen.

For now, Funding Choices is in beta. If you want in, register to be part of the next stage.

Are Aussie content consumers ready to pay for online content, or will they simply accept the ads back on their screens?

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.