In time of privacy tension — innovative alternatives
3-in-1: 3 digital news in 1 minute. On Monday. Episode 259
Discover 3 original digital news, invest one minute and be a better professional!
News 1: A privacy browser called Brave
Brave is a browser designed for privacy conscious users. It blocks ads and automatically makes browsing faster. Brave is also launching a search alternative to Google, based on data privacy. For what Brave names “ad chooser”, they can get rewards. Brave create a “currency” called “Basic Attention Token” for choosers, advertisers and website publishers. Opinion for B2B: The concept of privacy has been pushed by Brave to the end: blocks ads, show ads if chosen and distributes earning better for publishers. And now a search alternative — a “brave” move. Brave is based in San Francisco and gathered $42m — initially with an ICO.
A very good concept, but so difficult to scale. Ever heard of Brave before?
News 2: Starting off — Skiff privacy collaboration
Skiff is a typical start-up team: based in San Francisco, recently financed with $3,7m and famous Sequoia as first investor. Skiff is a privacy-based alternative to Google Docs and Workspace. Privacy? Expiring links, secured workplace and built-in password protection. Opinion for B2B: The environment of the Skiff workplace is de-facto secured. Everything is end-to-end encrypted. Still in beta — one can apply for a spot on a waiting list.
One-year-old company and already seed invest from Sequoia — this is a sign of a good product. And privacy focussed!
News 3: The paradox of ad blockers
Eyeo is a leader in ad blocker with “AdBlock”, now on over 100 million devices. Based in Cologne, Eyeo reports a profit of €17,9m for 2019 (very slow in publishing figures). The business model is around white-lists (advertisers pay for the ad to come through). It is called “Acceptable Ads”. Opinion for B2B: Acceptable Ads is key to this successful, profitable company. There is a standard charta and a committee for judging what is acceptable. Advertisers can apply in the programme.
Not a transparent system and very paradoxal — users block ads, advertisers pay to let it through.
Author is the research team (10 trend scouters) at specialist Space and Lemon (Hamburg, Berlin) — scouting in main tech geographies, in AI development, virtual worlds and e-commerce. Excerpts of research are gathered here in original weekly news since 2016, always with a professional opinion — no re-write of TechCrunch. Research time: July 2021.
Come back next Monday and share your opinion.
