Crypto Ads: A New Web 3 Primitive

If we are going to build a new type of web, we need a new type of ad. Our proposal for ads at Bitfari is one that builds upon previously proposed building blocks like NFTs, wallets, and smart contracts in order to create something that solves the most pressing problems of web 2 monetization: ad fraud, fake impressions, distracting formats, and resource-intensive deliveries.

What are Atomic Swaps? A Beginner's Guide - CoinCentral
Credit: Coincentral

Consider a swap between two cryptocurrencies screen-time and native currency. Now imagine that screen-time is different for every type of screen or ad space in the system (online ads, big and small, billboard ads, of all sizes, etc). A swap of the native currency by one of many fungible tokens of variable denomination (depending on the country, medium, size, etc.) can bring liquidity to the screen-time of any device. This is but one solution to the problem, at Bitfari we use one single screen-time-area-medium token and then swap it for the native currency, instead of managing millions of fungible tokens. There are trade-offs with either approach.

Now consider a third element, that of fraud. And insert the element as a breaker that terminates a conceptual smart contract that is managing the swap of ad time for money. Fraud can simply be a function of the atomic swap that halts the transaction. Some conditions this function has to meet are that a wallet associated with the screen cannot report fraud onto itself and so on.

But how is fraud validated? Well, for billboards we use a set of auditors and live video feeds that publishers can use to report fraud.

For online ads, the solution is even simpler: charge per click. Distribute a preset quantity of daily-expiring (to avoid trading) fungible tokens to browser applications with an integrated wallet, and charge per click. Hence, fraudulent clicks would be those that come from empty wallets, or those that happen faster than a transaction (page change) can go thru. In this scenario, the webserver will always charge per page visit, forcing spammers to fake identities in order to fake clicks, which is too much of a hassle given the monetary gain of faking clicks.

This framework is indeed the basis of operation for one of our latest releases. A browser with an integrated wallet, plus a preset number of clicks given by the allocation of quantities of an FT that a normal human would spend in a day. For example, twenty thousand clicks. Such a framework solves the second problem: fake clicks. A similar solution can be deployed to prevent fake page views etc.

Clicks and pageview tokens would be allocated on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis to any user that is paying for the platform or that has provided proof of humanity (uniquely assigned NFT, government ID, biometrics, etc).

While many other implementations are possible, we mustn’t forget about the inclusion of fraud prevention mechanisms to improve the quality of traffic for advertisers.