Basic Attention Token is a decentralized, transparent digital advertising platform based on the Ethereum blockchain from the inventor of Javascript and co-founder of Mozilla & Firefox. The platform is comprised of many components: a digital ad exchange that allows advertisers to purchase ad space and user attention, analytics dashboards, ML matching algorithms, attention measurement & reward systems, and more.
Basic Attention Token ($BAT) is also the eponymous ticker symbol for the Ethereum-based ERC20 utility token, utilized as the unit of account for attention within the BAT platform:
Advertisers will transact in $BAT to purchase advertising space and user attention;
Publishers and content creators will receive ad revenue and user contributions in $BAT;
Users will earn and be rewarded in $BAT for their attention (“ad revenue sharing”).
When users choose to view ads within the BAT ecosystem, they will be compensated in $BAT for their attention. For example, users will receive 70% revenue share per ad displayed. Through “private ad slots”, like a private ad tab in the Brave browser.
What is Brave?
Brave is an open-source web browser created by the BAT team. With a focus on privacy and speed, the browser blocks intrusive ads and trackers automatically. Even the leading ad blockers on traditional browsers let some advertisements and trackers monitor your behavior. Brave blocks them all.
Brave also upgrades every site that it can to use the HTTPS protocol adding an extra layer of security when you browse.
The browser uses a background ledger system to anonymously track which sites and content you’re spending most of your time on so publishers can be paid accordingly.
Although your attention is constantly being measured, this information is completely anonymous, and your private information never leaves your device.
The Brave browser also tracks the attention you’ve devoted to an advertisement.
The Attention Value for each ad is calculated based on the incremental time the ad is in view and the number of ad pixels that are visible in proportion to relevant content.
Using machine learning on your Attention Value for different ads enables the Brave browser to serve up advertisements that are most relevant to what you’d want to see – a win for both users and advertisers. The team argues that their machine learning strategy creates content that’s more relevant than that of any third-party tracking systems can produce.
Over 150 publishers have already partnered with BAT to join Brave Payments, the micro-payment service in the Brave browser. Some of the most notable publishers include Wikihow, Archive.org, and Smashing Magazine. Other partners are expected to be announced shortly.
I tried out Brave, and I’ve got to say, I’m probably going to make it my default browser from now on.
It might have been the placebo effect, but the browser felt fast – even faster than my current Chrome browser with Adblock enabled. It was also nice to have peace of mind as I surfed around the web knowing that I wasn’t being tracked by any third-party software.
How does Basic Attention Token work with Brave?
Brave is an open-source, privacy-protecting, performant web browser with millions of users that blocks ads, trackers and mining scripts by default. It is available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. Brave integrates BAT but is not identical to it (see section: "Is Basic Attention Token Restricted to the Brave Browser?").
Brave integrates the BAT platform in the following ways:
Brave Payments. Brave Payment is a program that allows users to support their favorite publishers and content creators with monthly $BAT contributions. By default, Brave Payments divides monthly contributions among websites and channels based on time spent viewing content. Users can also "pin" specific amounts to their favorite websites and creators (publishers), much like Patreon. $BAT contributions to publishers who have not yet verified with the platform will be stored in a wallet that can be claimed upon verification. At present, users who enable Brave Payments in Brave generate a unidirectional in-browser $BAT wallet with multiple funding options (BAT, BTC, LTC, ETH, etc.). Future updates will include a multi-directional wallet upgrade that will allow users to transfer $BAT—such as $BAT earned from the BAT Ads program—out of the wallet.
BAT Ads. Users who opt-in for BAT Ads will receive a share of revenue from advertising that is displayed to them in BAT. With BAT Ads, user attention is valued. Ads from the BAT ecosystem will primarily be displayed to users in "private ad slots" (like an ad tab) and will take the form of rich push notifications, full-page HTML5 content, video, landing pages and more.
Ad revenue shares: Users will receive 70% of ad revenue for viewing direct-to-user ads in private ad slots. In the future, publishers will also be able to opt-in and display indirect BAT Ads, for which they will receive 70% of ad revenue, and the user an additional 15%.
Is BAT restricted to the Brave browser?
While the Brave browser is the primary focus for the BAT platform integration roadmap 1.0, the team intends to extend BAT beyond the Brave browser. We envision the BAT platform being extended to other web browsers (via extensions), chat/messaging applications, games and other attention-economy apps via open source mobile app SDKs, connected TV SDKs, etc.
BAT represents a fundamental rethinking of the way digital ads are delivered. The current model depends on third-party tracking, surveillance with tracking pixels, scripts, cookies and countless middlemen. BAT eliminates the need for third-party tracking and middlemen by matching ads client-side, locally and on-device, from a downloaded catalog of available ads and offers.
Delivering ads this way confers many benefits. For example:
Privacy. Users’ browsing data (e.g., browsing history) can be kept private. As all data required for ad-matching never leaves the device and third-party trackers are blocked by default.
Improved ad matching. The browser has the full corpus of user data and intent signals, including active tabs, URL and search keyword entry data, browsing history, etc. The platform, in conjunction with the browser, can determine if a user is actually in the optimal time and place in their browsing experience for an offer.
Better experience. Since ad matching is performed locally, users do not need to call out to external servers on every page load for tracking scripts, tracking pixels, etc. This leads to a quantifiably faster browsing experience, in addition to battery life and data usage savings. Moreover, since ads will not be served interstitially in in-page slots. BAT model avoids “banner blindness” issues and disruption of page content flow.
Use cases for Basic Attention Token
Basic Attention Token can be used with Brave Payments to support your favorite publishers and content creators on the web. We also envision $BAT being used to redeem premium content and progressively becoming a frequent flyer token for browsing, with rewards and other perks. For example, we aim to build a marketplace among our verified partners where the benefit will be from using BAT as opposed to a specific service. We might offer different options to convert $BAT to gift cards, discounted subscriptions for content, etc.
You will also be able to transfer $BAT out of the built-in wallet.
Basic Attention Token's launch took place on May 31st, 2017. The total supply of $BAT (1.5B tokens) was created during the token launch, of which 1B tokens were sold and the remaining 500M set aside for a user growth pool and development team pool. There are no plans for any subsequent token creation event or sale.
The proceeds from the token launch are being used for the development and growth of the platform. See this blog post for a breakdown of how the proceeds are distributed.
In addition to the token launch, the project is funded by Founders Fund, Foundation Capital, Propel Venture Partners, Pantera Capital, DCG, Danhua Capital, and Huiyin Blockchain Venture among others. Note: Please note that BAT is still in development and that some of the features mentioned herein have not yet been released.
Why should You care about Basic Attention Token?
The multibillion-dollar digital advertising industry is in crisis. User privacy has become a casualty in an ever-increasing consumer-surveillance ad model that relies on tracking and profiling users. Publishers and content creators are shutting down or retaliating with self-destructive tactics. Users enable ad-blockers in response to privacy violations, irrelevant ads and malvertising. Ad fraud is rampant throughout the system, and advertisers are struggling to find solutions that comply with new ePrivacy/GDPR regulations. This is fundamentally unsustainable.
Basic Attention Token fixes underlying economic incentives by correctly pricing user attention, delivering on privacy compliance, and offering a new win-win-win digital advertising paradigm for publishers, advertisers, and users. User privacy and web monetization need a better alternative to the status quo that is willing to attack the hard problems facing the web today—and doing so in a Brave way.
BAT is one of the few cryptos out there with a rockstar team, straightforward use-case, and working product. Even better, the leader of this whole project has already produced one awesome browser, Firefox, and has the relationships to implement BAT into the other already existing browsers.
As content continues to grow in importance on the web, BAT is going to shape the way that providers are rewarded. I firmly believe in the BAT team’s mission, and I am confident that they’re going to achieve everything they promise.
There are many more videos, podcasts and other resources available online about BAT/Brave. To find a weekly compilation of them, see our history of Community Weekly Updates.
