Skip to footer

Google Contributor subscription service supports sites and hides ads. Can it work?

Google Contributor is a subscription service that allows users to surf the web without the annoyance of ads. Other services have tried similar models and experienced pushback from content creators who say they aren't paid enough for their work. Will Google Contributor work?

|
Mike Blake/Reuters/File
A Google logo is seen at a Best Buy electronics store in this file photo illustration taken in Encinitas, California, on April 11, 2013.

Online ads are so annoying. They pop up, flicker, and sometimes shout things at you. But ads are often the only revenue stream for websites people love. Google, who makes billions off of ads, is introducing a new service that could make them a thing of the past.

Google is launching Contributor, a subscription based service that removes ads from partnering sites. Users can pay between $1 and $3 a month to surf a partner's site without the annoyance of ads. Google adds, "The more you contribute, the more you support the websites you visit."

Current partner sites include: Mashable, Urban Dictionary, The Onion, wikiHow, ScienceDaily, and Imgur. When users go to these sites, instead of seeing an ad for something you probably don't want, the site will say "Thank you for contributing." The new service will only block ads supplied by Google. The company currently makes a large portion of its revenue from ads. During the last quarter alone, Google made $16.5 billion.

"[I]f you consider that Google is in the business of monetizing content, it makes sense to offer both subscription and ad-supported models," Colin Gillis, senior analyst at BGC Partners, told CNBC.

Contributor is still in the beta phase, and users need an invitation to join. Google is starting out with smaller websites to get a feel for how the service would work on a larger site. 

The idea behind Google Contributor isn't new. Google itself has released a similar subscription service for YouTube. But some services that offer subscription models in lieu of ads, like Spotify, have come under fire for the amount of money that goes to the content creators. Taylor Swift pulled her new album, 1989, from the site in early November because she felt Spotify wasn't compensating her enough for the work.

"The landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment," Swift said told Yahoo. "And I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music. And I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free." 

Unlike other ad-blocking services, like AdBlock, Contributor will give publishers part of the revenue, though Google hasn't released the amount it would pay. Google Contributor could be a good source of revenue for Google and provide a steady stream of revenue to support the site. But that could be difficult unless enough users sign up for the service.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Google Contributor subscription service supports sites and hides ads. Can it work?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Tech/2014/1121/Google-Contributor-subscription-service-supports-sites-and-hides-ads.-Can-it-work
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe