Varanida is a digital ecosystem that is designed to tackle some of the problems that have been developing in the world of digital advertising, such as intrusive ads flooding popular websites and the unethical sale of user data. Their solution involves utilizing blockchain technology for security and transparency, benefitting all three essential stakeholders involved in the advertising marketplace: the advertisers, the publishers, and the users.
The current dilemma in the world of digital advertising
Let’s be honest, there are “good” ads, and then there are the dreaded “bad” ads. Bad advertisements are those intrusive, low-quality clickbait ads that completely ruin the user’s experience. Good advertisements are, yes – the complete opposite; they are quality ads designed to emotionally connect with and engage their target audience.
The abundance of bad advertising on the internet has caused users to exercise a tunnel-vision approach whilst browsing through the internet, disregarding any form of advertisement they encounter. Even worse, the amount of people using ad blockers is increasing rapidly – a phenomena that is hurting the publishers more than any other party. The truth is in the numbers: The average click-through-rate (CTR) has fallen from 44 per cent in 1994 to 0.05 per cent currently. Also, ad block usage grew 30 per cent globally in 2016, and continuing to rise today. However, 83 per cent of users agree that not all advertising is bad and they would like to have some control over which ads they see.
Have you ever browsed a product you were interested in purchasing, only to be haunted by advertisements of that very product on every other website you visit? Well, the harsh reality is that your data is being sold and your internet activity is being monitored so that advertisers purchasing your data can redirect these ads back towards you. And the worst part of it all – the users have no control over where there data goes and are not being compensated when it is sold.
Then there’s the irony in it all – the majority of digital advertisements take longer to load than the actual website’s content, causing a major hindrance. Organizations such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) are well aware of this phenomenon and have set standards for size and invasiveness of the ads, but to no avail. Forty-percent of ads exceed these standards, which is directly attributing to a decrease in views, ultimately resulting in a loss of revenue.
Although users are directly impacted by bad advertising, publishers are hit where they feel it most – their pockets. As a result, they have been frantically redesigning their websites to free up maximum space for advertisements, even though the slight majority of those ads will never be seen. This shift in behavior, regarding the quantity over the quality, has caused many users to download ad blockers, directly impacting the revenue of the publishers.
Oh yeah, then there’s fraud – and it comes in many forms. Advertisers sometimes utilize bots or people to click on ads in order to give a false sense of how well their advertising campaigns are working. There are even fraudulent publishers, generating fake plagiarized sites that steal money from all the parties. Also, not all of the money spent by advertisers is actually allocated towards the publisher’s media, with the remaining 60% spent on agency and middleman fees.
The Varanida solution
Now that the problems in the digital advertising space have been identified, it’s time to discuss how Varanida attempts to solve them. Varanida claims to be a neutral actor in the marketplace, taking less than 0 per cent commission, as a fair and transparent party trusted by all the stakeholders involved.
Users: By blocking ads originating from a centralized network and interacting with verified advertisers, users will be able to earn VAD tokens. Because Varanida will not store user data, the power is shifted back to the users, who can opt to share their data (which will never be sold) in return for VAD tokens.
Publishers: Through the Varanida Real Time Bidding Platform, publishers electing to display verified ads will be awarded with VAD tokens and avoid those costly middleman agency fees. Publishers will also rest assured knowing that any of the ads displayed on their site will not negatively impact the users’ experience since they have been vetted by Varanida beforehand. The publishers can even provide further incentive for users to engage in their content through rewards distributed through VAD tokens.
Advertisers: With no need for middle men and ad network fees, advertisers will be able to allocate 100% of their budget to what matters most: their advertising campaigns. The advertisers will have an improved outreach to their audience and can take advantage by presenting exclusive offers and promotions. Therefore, the priority will shift back to quality ads – not the quantity.
VAD Tokens
Once fully operational, the VAD (Verified Ad) tokens will serve several key functions within the Varanida ecosystem:
- Users can spend VAD tokens on websites to access premium content, unlock exclusive offers from advertisers, purchase products and services and reward content creators who’s only source of revenue thus far has been from advertisers.
- Just as users can reward content creators with VAD tokens, vice-versa also applies – Publishers will be able to reward their audience with VAD tokens for commenting on, sharing, and contributing to their content.
- Advertisers will be given an incentive to join and participate in the network with a 50 per cent bonus on any VAD tokens purchased within the first year.
- Varanida will reward users with VAD tokens when they interact with ads.
The VAD tokens will run on the Ethereum blockchain, following the ERC-20 token standard, with their presale launching in June 2018.
Prototype Available Today!
Varanida has released its prototype, available for free download as a Google Chrome or Firefox extension. During this promotional phase, users who install the plugin will receive 50 VAD tokens and, if installed through a referral, the referring party as well as the new user will receive an additional 20 VAD. If you would like to learn more, the technicals are included in their White Paper.
If you would like to find out more about Varanida, you can visit their website at where you will find an abundance of information.
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