If you compare the web experience of major news publications from just a decade ago to today, you'll notice one major difference. And that's the sheer number of membership paywalls you encounter, with many of them being unquestionably obtrusive.
The result is a web experience that is not only frustrating for the user, but increasingly difficult for publishers and organizations who are forced into membership revenue models for survival.
One blockchain-based project is looking to change all of that, and it's called Gather. Gather is a network that enables publishers to monetize without ads or memberships, and it's set to change the way companies do business online.
A More Authentic Web Experience
Major news publications like the New York Times have seen a huge shift in their revenue model over the last several years, from ad based to paywall membership, and this has created a problem for publishers who strive to deliver unbiased journalism.
Using a membership revenue model simply means catering to your paying members. This means the views of the non-paying users are essentially ignored. And in a hyper-partisan political environment, specific views and narratives get pushed more than others, based on who's paying for memberships.
But with Gather, major news publications wouldn't have this problem. Catering to a specific audience automatically becomes less of an issue because publishers would derive income based on the number of visitors to their website or application, not the number of ads or memberships they sell.
The result is more authentic journalism and a positive web experience for readers because they can spend more time on the website with no friction, and publications can naturally attract a wider audience.
Say Goodbye to Paywalls and Pop-Ups
Truth is, no one really likes ads and paywalls that force you into membership. They are often clunky, time consuming, and completely take the user out of their natural rhythm of absorbing content. Publishers realize this, but had few good options before Gather.
Further, users are being forced to find places where ads and membership paywalls are not the norm. Or worse, forced into using ad blocking technology. However, on major publications' websites these attempts are usually met with pop-ups warning the user to disable their ad blocker. All in all, an unenjoyable experience.
And that's another reason why Gather is so important. It takes the vision of what the web should be, and helps to make that a reality by ensuring publishers get paid, and users get to enjoy the web on their terms. With Gather, the need for ads, pop-ups, and membership in order to survive will become a thing of the past.
How It Works
Gather runs in the background of the publisher's website, and with the consent of the user, it aggregates the idle processing power of that user's computer. From there it distributes it to enterprises who really need it for things like cloud computing and to developers for crypto currency mining.
The result is that website publishers, like the New York times, would receive payment and users get to enjoy an ad or membership-free browsing experience. And being that the user's experience is so frictionless, they are likely to return to the publisher's website, thus starting the cycle again. It's a win-win for the publisher and for the user.
Current revenue generating methods don't allow publishers to offer an optimal experience for users. But with Gather's innovative revenue generating solutions, news publications can monetize without impacting the user experience.