Dow Jones Media Group, a unit of Dow Jones, has partnered with ad-blocking browser startup Brave Software, to offer premium content to new users and test blockchain technology usage in digital publishing.
The privacy web browser, founded by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, said in a statement that a limited number of users who download the Brave browser on a first-come, first-serve basis, will get access to premium content from Dow Jones Media. These users will get full access to Dow Jones Media's Barrons.com website or to a premium MarketWatch newsletter.
In addition, Barron's and MarketWatch will become verified publishers on the Basic Attention Token or BAT platform, developed by Brave. BAT is a blockchain-based payment system that will allow consumers and advertisers to pay publishers.
Daniel Bernard, SVP, Barron's, said, "As global digital publishers, we believe it is important to continually explore new and emerging technologies that can be used to build quality customer experiences."
As per reports, a group of newspapers, including Dow Jones-owned Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Washington Post, around two years ago had called Brave's ad blocking illegal, and that its business model was indistinguishable from a plan to steal their content to publish on its own website.
Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave, now said, "We're thrilled to be partnering with Dow Jones Media Group to provide Brave users with premium content via Brave and the Basic Attention Token. Our new model reconnects users and publishers without compromising privacy."
Brave may also announce other big publishers as partners.
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