(Originally shared on r/ownyourintent – cross-posting not allowed so reposting here for discussion.)
The internet’s “old bargain” – free content in exchange for ads – is breaking apart. For decades it kept the web open, but over time it turned into surveillance capitalism. And now AI is pushing it over the edge:
- Clicks are disappearing as AI gives answers directly.
- Ads don’t work on agents that parse data instead of seeing banners.
- And if assistants start taking money to nudge our choices, trust collapses.
So what happens next? Do we end up with paywalls everywhere? AI quietly selling to us? Or something entirely new?
I’ve written a deeper dive in the blog above. Curious what folks here think: if the ad model really is dying, what should replace it?
https://testnet.inomy.shop/blog/Open-Monetization-Layer
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The internet’s old ad-funded bargain is breaking down, and AI is speeding that collapse. Clicks are disappearing, ads don’t work on AI agents, and assistants could become biased salespeople if their incentives are tied to advertisers. That leaves us at a turning point: do we end up with paywalls everywhere, or can we imagine something completely new?
I’m curious what others think a fair, sustainable model for the future web might look like.
crypto will wreck havoc on the internet as we know it. from silly games with pay2play models to a constant barrage of digitals item and skins a click away, we will dream about a time when the internet didnt have money as part of its reality
Paywalls and micropayments everywhere.
We’re seeing a glimpse of what’s to come on the sex industry, which shouldn’t be a surprise because the sex industry is usually both an earlier adopter of tech and also needs to push its boundaries for legal and commercial reasons.
OnlyFans is creating a model where the money goes to the content producer, both via subscription and also via paid content. We’re going to see more of this.
Brazilian PIX is also part of the future to come. It’s also part of the reason why some people high in the US government fear it; because it isn’t an app, it’s not a private company selling solutions, but it’s public infrastructure for cheap and easy money transfer that enables a lot of new business model including micro payments that were practically impossible with the legacy financial system (and on top of this it isn’t centered at around the US financial system). I’m sure PIX is in some way part of the future.
There are specialized chats in chatGPT which are RAGs with goods databases sometimes. Like Telegram gift selection bots. Basically, whole eshops brought right under your nose. Once chatGPT will realize they can take a cut – they’ll be all over your UI, with quite precise offers knowing your chats history.
Perhaps this was the plan all along.
We going to see ad banner directly in chats with AI, ads also will be pushed subtly. Capitalism has no shame. In Ready player one move antagonist is regretting he can’t sell more than 80% of VR screen because users have seizures.
Internet as we know it, internet of web pages will die. There will be platforms that AI can’t parse and where people will have blogs and site-like information clusters to monetize.