{"id":114625,"date":"2017-01-23T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T01:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/death-google-contributor\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T00:36:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:36:50","slug":"death-google-contributor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/death-google-contributor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Death of Google Contributor"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Google Contributor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Google Contributor is (or perhaps \u2018was\u2019 is a more fitting word) a Google-run programme launched in the United States in 2015 that allowed users in the Google Network of content sites to view websites administered, sorted, and maintained by Google, free of any ads.\u00a0The small fee paid in monthly instalments would be used to directly fund the websites you frequently visited through Google\u2019s ad platform; these sites would then display a ‘Thank You\u2019 message by default, instead of an ad, allowing you to enjoy an ad-free browsing experience.<\/p>\n

Where is it now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reactions to Google Contributor were initially positive, and strong enough to convince Google that it was a good idea to announce the expansion of the service into the United Kingdom in early 2016. The thinking behind this move was most likely that Google saw Contributor as an effective way to hit back against ad blocker. However, while a waiting list was set up, the service never actually became available in the UK. Indeed, in the December of 2016, Google announced that the service would be replaced by younger, more advanced technology in January 2017. Today, the Google Contributor website now simply redirects visitors to to a generic 404 page.<\/p>\n

\"PictureNo replacement for Google Contributor has yet been disclosed by Google, and what the company now has up its sleeve remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

This type of programme was not unique to the Google universe, however. An example of a similar set-up may be found in YouTube Red<\/a> – a paid subscription service offered by YouTube to internet users in the United States.. This channel provides advertising-free streaming of videos hosted by the service, offline and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to new original content, and access to advertising-free music streaming. While it is not yet available in the UK, it bears a striking resemblance to the programming behind Google Contributor.<\/p>\n

An Internet without Adverts? <\/strong><\/p>\n

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