Yup, you've seen it right, I was talking about an alternative built on the blockchain that is tailored for advertisers and publishers.
Hmm... have you noticed I said "classic online advertising"? Like it was something from the '30s. :)
The project which took a dive into this direction is called AdEx, and here's how they describe it, in short:
AdEx is a blockchain-based ad exchange aiming at disrupting the existing online advertising landscape and address its significant problems: advertising fraud, privacy and consent to receiving sponsored messages, etc.
AdEx is completely transparent and built on top of Ethereum smart contracts.
We believe we can empower advertisers and publishers with a platform that is secure, transparent and beneficial for all the parties involved in the process, consumers included.
So, how does it work?
The part you would find familiar if you have already been involved in online advertising, is that advertisers bid for space provided by the publishers. The latter then accept certain bids.
Then, a smart contract is created between the two parties, the advertiser and the publisher. At the fulfillment of the contract payment will be made using the ADX coin.
Here are the pros and cons as I see them at this time.
Pros:
- there is a peer-to-peer smart contract which establishes when the contract is fulfilled and payment is direct, without an intermediary (Google Adsense rings any bells?).
- no fees or commissions
Cons:
- the platform is new and might still have a few bugs, plus they are still developing it (who isn't in the crypto space?)
- payments are in ADX, which is not a top coin and may be highly volatile (even more than the top cryptos)
Conclusion
With the recent crypto bans from Facebook and Google, such a project might get a bigger traction. It is worth keeping an eye of, or even trying it out.