Have you ever read an insightful article and wondered how to appreciate the writer's effort with a little token?
Web Monetization is a new way to pay creators in real-time through a Javascript API that uses Interledger Protocol micro-payments to monetize a website or streaming channel. Users can enable web monetization for payment streaming through polyfill or an extension. Content creators are able to implement it by adding a line of code to their website or specifying a streaming channel for web monetization. The Interledger vision is to be able to send, receive, and monetize anything in any currency. Content creators and websites that are making revenue from web monetization can provide rewards or special offers for users that have Web Monetization enabled, therefore creating a self-sustaining economy. The most known service that pays content creators with the help of Web Monetization at the moment is Coil.
How it works
Users sign up with a Web Monetization sender which is capable of sending very small payments to websites. This would likely be a digital wallet or a service that specializes in sending micropayments for content. Websites sign up with a Web Monetization receiver, a specialised digital wallet capable of processing an incoming stream of very small payments. When the user visits the website, her browser parses a tag in the header of the site that contains the websites receiving address. The browser determines how much to pay the website and then contacts the websites WM receiver to get a unique receiving address for payments for the current session (page load/refresh). The browser begins sending small payments via the user’s WM sender (using the Payment Handler API). For each payment the browser emits an event that the website can listen for. In return for payment the website provides the user with an alternative “paid for” experience such as not showing advertising, delivering premium content etc. If you don’t have a site, then you can also post content on a Web Monetization-enabled platform like coil or cinnamon and get paid.
The following are the available Web Monetization Wallet:
XRP Tipbot
Stronghold
GateHub