Brave Browser: Preview of ads developer channel enters second phase

Brave Browser, an open-source web browser based on the Chromium web browser, announced the transition of Brave Ads Developer Channel Preview from phase one to phase two, in an official blog post. Phase one of the project was about creating a public opportunity for brands, marketers, developers, and the community to test the mechanisms of Brave Ads via its developer channel.

The platform stated that advertisers, such as BuySellAds, Fluidity, Uphold, TAP Network, and AirSwap, from its Early Access Program, were part of an important testing and learning phase. The second phase of the platform enables users to earn tokens as rewards for their attention. It also introduces “anonymous-but-accountable campaign reporting for brands” on Brave. The announcement read,

With today’s Developer Channel update [version 0.63.4], testers on OS X, Linux and Windows x64 [with 32-bit/x86 to follow shortly] will start to see the ads they are viewing being counted [”ad notifications received”] on the Brave Rewards Settings Page [accessible through brave://rewards]

They further stated that testers will be able to claim their tokens on a monthly cycle for viewing advertisements on their platform via Brave Rewards. This feature allows the platform’s users to contribute Basic Attention Token [BAT], a utility token based on Ethereum blockchain, to all sites they visit. With Brave Ads, users can choose to opt-in and earn BAT for their attention, by getting paid for watching ads.

Noastrademons, a Redditor said,

The whole point of BAT – and the reason users get some – is to correctly price users’ attention. If you don’t think it’s worth it, opt out of viewing ads. That’ll reduce the supply of ad inventory available, which means advertisers need to bid more to get their ads shown, which raises the demand for BAT, which raises the price, which makes it more worthwhile to turn on ads.

JankFrank, another Redditor said,

Well first of all we’re not exactly sure how much we’ll make when it’s all said and done. More importantly, no one who is opting into ads is doing so to gain a significant revenue stream. Eventually, with BAT earned you should be able purchase stuff like access to articles, on-demand entertainment, VPN, gift cards, etc. Ultimately many of us will opt-in as a way to fund sites/creators we like.