A New Blockchain-Based Digital Advertising Ecosystem: Brave Browser & Basic Attention Token

For those unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, getting involved can seem like a daunting task. However, with billions of dollars pouring into the crypto space, rapid progress has been made in making these new technologies more accessible and user-friendly.

Increasing global regulation has resulted in major institutional investment into the crypto space, with increasing numbers of mutual funds and investment banks seeking to further diversify their holdings with crypto assets. CME Group, the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, now offer bitcoin futures and options. Commercial crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken & Gemini have partnered with banks to make it incredibly simple to purchase crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

There’s More to Crypto than just currency

Beyond the financial sector, crypto assets are making huge strides. Blockchain technology, the underlying technology behind crypto assets, has a broad range of applications – from fraud prevention & counterfeiting to supply chain management & smart home integration. One of the most innovative and ambitious applications of blockchain technology aims to disrupt the digital advertising space.

Basic Attention Token (BAT) is a blockchain-based digital advertising and rewards platform from by renowned innovator Brendan Eich, the creator of Javascript and co-founder of Mozilla & Firefox. Eich created BAT with the aim of improving the security, fairness, and efficiency of digital advertising with blockchain technology. BAT is the native token of the Brave web browser and is built on top of Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

So how does it work?

Users download the Brave Browser and install it on their computer and/or mobile devices. You do not need to own any crypto assets, nor do you require any expertise in crypto technologies. The browser looks and acts exactly like Google Chrome, with a few major differences. Brave Browser has a built-in ad-blocker and tracker-blocker, significantly speeding up page load times and ensuring that you can freely browse the internet without obtrusive ads.

The traditional digital advertising model employed by Google involves companies paying Google to show you ads embedded into the websites that you visit. You are forced to view these ads, and you receive nothing in return. Brave Browser blocks these ads and gives you the choice to opt-in to the Brave Rewards Program.

In exchange for agreeing to be shown relevant ads, you will be paid monthly in Basic Attention Token. The Brave ads differ from the traditional ads you’re used to seeing across the internet – they are brief, text-only ads that show up in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser, similar to a Windows system notification.

By default, Brave Rewards shows you two ads per hour, however, you can adjust this number to anywhere between one and five ads per hour (click the BAT triangle in the URL bar > Rewards Settings > Ads). Unlike conventional digital advertisements, ad matching happens directly on your device and your data is never sent to anyone, not even Brave.

At the end of the month, you claim your BAT into the Brave Browser. You then use this BAT to tip your favourite content creators online – directly investing in the content that you enjoy. For example, we at Bubbly Consulting have set up a monthly BAT tip to be sent to Wikipedia. You can tip BAT to Twitter, Youtube, Reddit, Twitch, GitHub & Vimeo users in order to show your appreciation for the content you value on the internet. If the website or user that you tip your BAT to are not yet verified on the Brave Rewards Program, your tip will be held and they will receive notification asking them to sign up to receive their BAT.

Think of Brave Browser & BAT as the democratisation of the digital advertising space. Rather than Google & Facebook profiting off of your attention with intrusive embedded and pop-up advertisements, Brave Browser enables you to choose how and when you are exposed to digital advertisements. Furthermore, it enables you to directly pay the content creators that you value. These content creators have two options: they can use the BAT they’ve earned to pay for ads to be shown to users in the Brave Browser; or they can then exchange the BAT generated by their content for Bitcoin, Ethereum or traditional fiat currencies (such as $, €, £, etc.) in order to pay their bills.

Brave Content Creators

Bubbly Consulting founders and employees all utilise the Brave Browser to earn BAT for viewing relevant ads, using the BAT we have earned to pay content creators that we value. Bubbly Consulting is also verified Brave Content Creator, meaning we can receive tips on our website and social channels.

For now, the Brave Rewards program remains a niche compared to traditional digital adverting networks, however it is rapidly expanding outwith the crypto space and is beginning to see widespread adoption. As of September 2020, there are more than 922,000 verified Brave Creators. Major websites such as Wikipedia, The Guardian, Washington Post, DuckDuckGo, TradingView, LADbible, Aparat.com, SourceForge, NPR & The Khan Academy are all verified Brave Creators.

Companies such as Amazon, eBay, eToro, Vice, Home Chef,  TradingView, Barron’s, Forge of Empires (game) and Unstoppable Domains currently serve ads to targeted users in the Brave Network.

How to get involved

As a user: download and install Brave Browser. From there you can choose to opt-in and receive Brave ads in exchange for monthly BAT payments. Once you’ve earned your first BAT payment you can choose to pay the content creators that you value directly.

As a content creator: go to https://creators.brave.com/ and sign-up. You can connect your website and social channels to maximise your exposure and reach.

If you would like more information on how Bubbly Consulting can help grow your business and increase sales get in touch for a free consultation.