Chromium is the open-source codebase built and maintained by Google, distinct from their Chrome browser brand. However, Chromium’s code is what makes Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and alternatives like Opera function.
Now, these devs are prototyping something called web monetization, where popular creators automatically get paid via micropayments, using digital wallets stored inside the browser.
How Sites Monetize
Sites monetize in three main ways – via ads/affiliates, paywalls, or by offering a service people are willing to pay for. Many use a combination of the three. Ads and paywalls are obvious to users and, while a valid business model, will inevitably turn some users away.
Meanwhile, services are straightforward interactions. Take digital services like iGaming, a popular industry where many of its providers operate from the UK. People pay to play their casino games, sometimes with an incentive or free try at the games to test them out. This is something we see through UK casino bonuses and offers, where free spins are often granted to newcomers. Basic and voluntary transactions like this aren’t what the Chromium devs are challenging. Instead, they want to figure out how to make the web fully accessible while rewarding creators, without an overreliance on ads and paywalls. Ultimately, Chromium micropayments could introduce a fourth into the mix.
Chromium Micropayments
There is quite a history of micropayments stretching back to the 1990s. In short, the idea was scrapped because the cost of organizing and carrying out transactions would run even higher than running the browser itself. While we have made significant progress, even today running tens of thousands of cent transactions would be quite a feat.
As proposed by Chromium and Igalia open-source consultant Alexander Surkov, web monetization means that sites automatically receive payments directly from online visitors’ browsers when they interact with the domain. This would be facilitated by an integrated payment service within the browser.
In terms of real progress, it was Brave (which also runs Chromium’s codebase) who first popularized something like this in 2017. They created the browser’s own cryptocurrency – Basic Attention Token (BAT) – and a corresponding rewards scheme. By viewing ads, web users can rack up a crypto stash in very small increments. BAT can also be sent to sites and creators you support, using the browser.
In Chromium’s proposed model, both users and site owners have digital wallets. When a user accesses a site with a connected wallet, a very small amount is sent to the owner as a tip. It’s designed to be small enough that it won’t price users out of the internet. However, when site owners receive very small tips from all of their visitors, it adds up to become a non-intrusive and affordable replacement for ads and paywalls.
There are still substantial tech hurdles before micropayments enter common usage. As mentioned, cost-effectively managing so many transactions is still a challenge that blockchain is rushing to solve. Other barriers include securing those systems, popularizing digital wallets and currencies, and the unpredictable sentiment towards a model where users pay pennies to potentially abolish ads/paywalls from the internet. Websites will always have the option to use them, but open-source advocates hope that site owners won’t need to rely on them as much.
If Chromium leads web monetization, it means all of the browsers working from Chromium’s codebase could follow suit. That would include browsers run off of the Android platform, as Android WebView uses Chromium and the raw build of Chromium is available for download. While Chromium is downloadable today, their dreams of an ad-free internet won’t be implemented for the foreseeable future.
