With Web3 Advertising, Everybody Wins (Except Google)

Change is the inevitable consequence of advances in technology, and nowhere is that more true than in the advertising industry, which is bracing itself for massive disruption by the march towards Web3. 

The adtech space is constantly innovating to improve itself and come up with ways to better target its audiences and increase engagement. As the concept of Web3 evolves and user adoption grows, advertisers are already looking at more appropriate forms of advertisements that are tailored to the brave new, decentralized world. 

A quick refresher on Web3. The early internet would eventually become known as "Web1", a place of static, text-based websites with blocky graphics, dial up connections, where email was the most revolutionary form of communication. Pretty quickly, the internet evolved into Web2, its current phase, which is dominated by social media and interactive content. Web2 has enabled all kinds of wonders, such as targeted ads, influencers and content creators, but it's a place that's largely dominated by internet giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, who retain a monopoly on the data created by their users. 

Web3 is set to become the next evolution of the internet, characterized by decentralization and powered by technologies such as blockchain. One of its advantages is that it can enable internet users to break free of the stranglehold of these large internet giants. With Web3, consumers will be able to own their data, creating the possibility for brands to forge stronger relationships with them. Users will even be able to earn rewards for connecting with brands. 

Another benefit of Web3 is that it's the perfect tonic for champions of internet privacy, as decentralization will put an end to users being tracked as they traverse the internet, from social media to shopping and games. Driving this change is blockchain, which will serve as the foundation of this more inclusive internet where people control their data to become a key element of value exchange. 

The Beauty Of Decentralization

The term "Web3" was first coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood in 2014, to express a vision of a decentralized internet that increases ownership and transparency. 

With decentralization, data storage will shift away from centralized server farms operated by internet giants to a multitude of systems scattered across the globe. So no single entity will own that data anymore. Instead of having one authority on data collection and distribution, users will own their own data, and have full control over who – if anyone – is able to access their information. 

The most obvious impact of this is it will prevent the internet giants from monetizing their user's online data. Instead of big companies owning the data and selling it to advertisers, the people will decide for themselves which advertisers are able to access it. They'll also be able to see how whatever data they agree to share is used by third-parties. This will result in some major disruption to the advertising industry. 

How Advertising Will Look In Web3

Many people have lauded the positive impact Web3 is expected to have on the online advertising space. However, while the improvements to privacy will be welcomed by almost everyone, brands will need to do some additional work to connect with consumers, and they'll have to be prepared to share in the spoils. Since the data of internet users will no longer be owned by big corporate entities, digital marketing will involve connecting brand advertisers and publishers directly to their audiences. 

Brands will therefore need to build closer relationships with their consumer base in Web3. In addition, they will likely be required to make more effort to catch people's attention. The difficulty of this will, however, be balanced by the opportunity to create tighter relationships with consumers. 

Additionally, it's expected that data in Web3 will be more accurate than ever before. That's because advertisers will be able to connect directly with their consumers, rather than the image of a consumer that's sold to them by online ad giants. Marketing in Web3 will have to focus on building more meaningful relationships with consumers, and perhaps even creating partnerships with them, so everyone can benefit from those relationships. 

Some startups have already carved out a vision of what Web3 advertising will look like. Permission.io is a Web3 ad platform that wants to see users rewarded for sharing their data with advertisers. Users will be able to choose the kinds of brands they're interested in sharing their data with. Brands will then get access to the data of consumers who're interested in engaging with them, and reward those users for viewing their ads using Permission.io's native cryptocurrency $ASK, a tokenized reward system for Web3. The benefits of this system include users being able to control what kinds of ads they see and get paid for seeing them. For brands, they should be able to improve their ROI, as their ads will only be seen by those who're already interested in their products. 

The ads people see will therefore improve considerably. ReneVerse is the creator of a "Borderless Gaming" ecosystem that will allow video games players to bring the digital assets they own to any game they wish to play. One of ReneVerse's aims is to improve in-game ads, which it will do with a unique, highly targeted advertising technology that enables brands to inject creative marketing into gaming environments. Brands will then be able to target a large, hyper-focused audience of gamers in very specific game genres. ReneVerse calls its technology "Borderless ads", and it promises to significantly increase partnering brands' value proposition, while rewarding gamers for seeing those ads. 

Another positive development is that Web3 advertising will spell the end of hated tracking technologies such as third-party cookies. Cookies are small, software-based scripts created by big companies like Google and Facebook and stored on the user's personal computer or device. They track the user's browsing habits, and this is what enables online ads to "follow" users across the web. So if someone searches for shampoo products, they'll see ads for shampoo on multiple websites they visit. 

The alternative internet browser Brave has created a compelling alternative to his. It blocks websites from using cookies and disables cookie-based ads through its built-in ad blocking tool. Instead, it allows advertisers to reach only users who opt in with small, occasional and highly unobtrusive ads only, and compensates these users for viewing those ads with its cryptocurrency token $BAT. 

The evolving nature of Web3 advertising will leave brands with little option but to change tactics and focus on building closer, mutually beneficial relationships with their audiences. They will also come to rely on content creators more heavily. With the rise of decentralized platforms, content creators will be able to publish on alternatives to traditional social media such as YouTube and Facebook, which retain control of the advertising profits. So instead of paying the social media platform for ads, brands will need to reach out to individual creators to promote themselves to their fans. 

Everyone Wins

Once Web3 becomes the norm, online advertising will no longer be about building up massive databases of user's information and farming that data to bombard them with ads. Instead, the ad industry will need to adopt solutions that benefit everyone equally, including brands, users and content publishers alike. Brands will need to make a little more effort and build closer relationships with consumers, but doing so will be worthwhile for everyone concerned. 

Consumers will find the products and services they love more easily and be rewarded when they do, while content creators will earn a fair share of those ad revenues. Finally, the brands themselves will be able to ensure their ads are more focused and have a much bigger impact.