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Sep 16, 2019 - Technology

"Grant for the Web" to front $100 million to fund online privacy research

Joe Uchill

Grant for the Web, a group funded by the Mozilla Foundation, Coil and Creative Commons, announced on Monday $100 million in funding to innovate new ways to monetize online content without using user behavior for advertising.

Why it matters: At present, the most sustainable way for a website to draw revenue from its content involves promoting advertisements based on detailed assessments of user behavior. Though that's a strategy many find to be a violation of privacy, there aren't other options available.

Enter Grant for the Web, which will fund research into new monetization methods that don't rely on surveilling users.

  • At least 50% of grant money will support open standards for monetization that anyone could use.

What they're saying: "[W]e’re very interested in identifying new ways of rewarding open creativity and enabling people to show their gratitude to creators who share their work openly with the world," blogged Cable Green, interim CEO of Creative Commons.

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