Browser from maker javascript pays users to watch ads

Javascript creator and former Mozilla director Brendan Eich is developing a browser that pays users for viewing ads. Then, users can pay that money to publishers of sites they find worthwhile.

After a donation to the site, the browser blocks ads on that site, Business Insider writes based on information from Eich. The browser called Brave can do that because it serves its own ads and blocks ads that sites themselves post or have them post with a built-in ad blocker. Eich wants to earn money by offering its own advertisements.

Of the ad revenue, 55 percent goes to the publisher of the site the ad is on, 15 percent to the company serving the ads, 15 percent to Eich’s company, and “10-15 percent” to the user.

Brave doesn’t serve random ads, but bases them on tags it collects from browsing history. Users can manage those tags themselves. It is unknown whether publishers of major sites want to do business with Eich’s company. Brave is due out later this year for Windows, OS X, iOS and Android. The browser called Brave is based on Chromium, the open source version of Chrome.

Eich was known as a creator of javascript when he became director of Mozilla a few years ago. After some time he resigned, because it had become known that he is against same-sex marriage.

Update, Thursday: Eich appears to have bought the Android browser Link Bubble from developer Chris Lacy. Brave has put Link Bubble on Github under the name Brave for Android.