Social media and online platforms bombard us with all types of advertisements. When users open their Facebook, it is often that they see everything they have clicked on in the last year appear on their wall.
The size of the online advertizing market is reaching new heights. When a user clicks on a platform, then this information is sold to different advertisers for large sums of money, who then start building a more complex profile of the user’s preferences and ultimately, buying decisions.
While the online advertising industry and the social media platforms make a ton of money off users, the only benefit for users seem to be the free access to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
However, now, with the power of Blockchain, the newly founded company, Wibson, which will allow users to get paid for what they share to advertisers online. After all, the ultimate goal of the startup is to create an equal environment in the online media where everyone can get a fair share of the “pie”.
On their website, Wibson states:
“In today’s economy, data equals money. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean money for you. Giant tech companies cleverly use the Internet’s underlying technical protocols to capture and control your personal information.”
What the company does is to provide infrastructure and financial benefits for users to securely sell their private information, which is validated in any way, so that advertisers are also encouraged to participate. Once a user shares his or her information, they will receive a report that outlines how the information they sold is used and by whom.
The company is helped by the four core principles on which the business model is built on and these are: fairness, anonymity, transparency and control. What also differentiates the platform is the security it provides for both parties involved. While users share their data, this data cannot be “attacked”, since the whole platform is built entirely on blockchain.
According to BTC Manager, a user’s data costs around $240 per year, but it that amount can be significantly larger, depending on the profile and usage of the customer.
Wibson also allows all types of users to get advantage of the platform. Since there is so much demand and supply of different goods/services on the global market, each piece of information is important to advertisers and platforms. So, while one user’s data can be worth more, this does not mean another one will be excluded for lower price. This inclusion is another important feature of the Wibson-business model.