According to CBS News, Google is rolling out a new service called “Contributor” that will allow users to block seeing AdSense ads on site users visit for a charge.
“Working with a handful of websites, including Mashable, the Onion, Science Daily, wikiHow, Imgur and Urban Dictionary, Google is offering subscriptions for $1, $2 or $3 per month that will block AdSense advertising on those sites, replacing them with a subtle gray box and a note that says, “Thank you for being a contributor.””Part of the subscription fee goes to support the site you’re visiting. ”
“A remaining portion, presumably, would go to Google. Under the standard AdSense agreement, the company pays publishers 68 percent of the revenue generated by the targeted ads.
As with many Google products, the service is invitation-only for now, but interested “contributors” can sign up for the wait list.
In a perfect world, the freeway would be a long line of “subtle gray” billboards thanking us for our fee. And TV would pause every so often for 3 minutes of a “subtle gray box” showing a mute “Thank you” message. We could lean back in our recliners and bask in that gratifying “subtle gray”.