Google Contributor Lets Users Pay to Remove Ads From Websites

Google has unveiled an experiment that will allow Web users to opt out of viewing ads on participating websites.

The Contributor service provides the option to hide Google ads on sites for a subscription fee of between $1 and $3. Participating sites will get a proportion of the resulting revenue.

“Today’s Internet is mostly funded by advertising. But what if there were a way to directly support the people who create the sites you visit each day?” Google said on the Contributor website.

The company added that people will be able to choose their own monthly contribution, and the more they contribute the more they will support the websites they visit.

“A pixel pattern appears where you would normally see an ad. Alternately, you might see a thank you message,” Google explained.

“The Contributor program helps Internet users enjoy a clean, pleasing, and distraction-free Web browsing experience.”

Participating sites include Urban Dictionary, Mashable, The Onion, WikiHow, Imgur, and Science Daily. Web users interested in trying the Contributor service can sign up to join the waiting list now.

Details on whether Google will earn a cut of the monthly subscription revenues are not exactly clear at this stage, as the company doesn’t mention this on its new Contributor website. Google wasn’t immediately available for comment at the time of publication.

If Contributor kicks off, it could dramatically change the face of the Web and how the Internet is funded, although it’s perhaps not the best news for advertising companies.

This article was originally published on V3.