Google is starting to roll out its Contributor service, charging subscribers between $2 and $10 per month to reduce ads across millions of participating websites.
The move signals Google’s attempt to lead the digital advertising ecosystem’s efforts to tackle increased uptake of ad blockers among consumers.
The ‘beta’ version of Contributor has been available for a while to a select few publishers, but it is in the recent past that it has become available to many more users/publishers across the globe.
The service has a tiered payment system starting at $2 a month to see 5-15% fewer ads. $5 will see 15-25% fewer ads, and $10 will show 25-50% fewer ads.
The service is integrated with AdSense, Google’s display ad network, and works by ‘bidding’ on the user’s behalf for the ad slot. If they ‘win’, no ad is shown.
In return, those sites receiving this funding will show fewer ads to participating consumers, with the website displaying a ‘thank you message’ instead of an ad.
In terms of the levy asked of the consumer, the amount they are ‘charged’ is the equivalent to the amount a publisher would have received had there been present on the page.
Google Contributor is to be rolled out in the UK in the early part of 2016, having been in beta since earlier this year in the USA.
UK web users can currently sign up to the Google Contributor waiting list, which asks them to select the amount of money they would like to contribute to the scheme, with Google then redistributing the money collected from consumers among participating publishers.