Google currently has several dominant positions, including being the most used search engine and the preferred browser by users. A document has been discovered that talks about the monetization of websites. Specifically, it refers to the possibility of websites receiving tips from readers who use Google Chrome.
For years, if you wanted to browse the web, you had to use Microsoft’s infamous Internet Explorer. It’s arguably the worst program ever to access the internet, but thankfully, it’s gone.
As it was such a poor browser, much better alternatives quickly appeared. Google’s proposal has been the one that has prevailed in this segment by offering a complete suite of solutions, such as an email manager, cloud storage, and so on.
Micropayments integration in Google Chrome
One of the biggest complaints from web content creators is the horrible monetization offered by Google. The company earns tens of billions of euros annually from the advertising it displays on its search engines. A small portion is distributed among the different websites that meet the monetization criteria.
The company has decided to “solve” the problem by implementing a web monetization system within Chrome. It allows websites to set up elements to receive small rewards for content.
According to Google in an internal document, it will allow website owners to receive micropayments from users who access their sites. The idea is to offer an additional option to receive income independent of ads or subscriptions.
Perhaps the integration mechanism is not the best. This function must be added to the web code using an HTML element like this:
This tag tells the browser that the website has a tipping system. It also specifies the payment mechanism that will be used to make this donation.
Google highlights that this system offers users the ability to make micropayments without interaction. The user has the power to offer a donation or tip to the content creators. The funds never go through Google, so the website in question receives all the funds contributed.
This mechanism has several uses. First, the website receives additional income. Second, the user has the power to support the website to a greater or lesser extent. Finally, it can help the website creators to know if the user likes their content.
Web monetization is still in its infancy and is not a W3C standard, although it is being developed by the Web Platform Incubator community. It is intended to be integrated in a more organic way within web pages.
Donations are not exactly something new. Platforms like YouTube or Twitch already allow donations through different mechanisms. The idea seems to be to bring a support mechanism to websites, although Google could already stretch this further and improve the monetization of AdSense.
