New Scroll subscription service removes ads from over 300 news sites, including Android Police


A new subscription service called Scroll launches today, offering advertisement-free access to over 300 sites, including The Atlantic, BuzzFeed News, Gizmodo, The Verge, and even us: Android Police. Eventually, it will run you $5 a month, but you can try it out for the next thirty days for free, and those that sign up early get a 50% discount on their first six months of service.
Okay, so our logo is a bit hard to read here, but look at the company we keep. 
News-serving sites can't exist without a means to make money, but it can be tough balancing advertisements in a way that keeps readers happy. Some types of ads can be downright intrusive to the content you're trying to access, and blanket blocking advertisements only serves to reduce the incentive for content creation itself, with some sites even blocking access for those that do.
Several concepts like Google's Contributors and the Basic Attention Token have tried to solve the problem with different approaches, but they've been a bit tedious for your average user to manage, and not very many sites have accepted them. Scroll is a bit simpler: It's a single subscription service with one monthly fee and 336 participating sites (at the time of writing), with 70% of the money you pay going to the sites you visit. In the words of CEO Tony Haile, "It’s a future where users don’t get pissed off and journalists don’t get laid off."
Scroll also works for AMP pages, and sites accessed in third-party apps like LinkedIn, Flipboard, Pinterest, and Reddit, though you will have to make sure that you have third-party cookies enabled in your browser for it to work (or, at least, specifically allow Scroll's cookies). We should also note it doesn't work with Google News or Apple News.
For the privacy-conscious, no ads means fewer trackers on pages, and for those running older hardware, it also means better page performance. While some venues may still have their own analytics, you don't have to worry quite so much about your data following you around between sites via ad networks.

The company's payment model is simple for customers, but it is a bit more complicated for publishers. That fee gets divided up per-user based on their individual "engagement and loyalty," according to an interview granted to TechCrunch. That means sites you don't visit don't get any part of your fee, indirectly giving you the choice of who gets your money: If you don't want to support one of the sites served by Scroll, just don't visit them. On average, Scroll even claims it will pay out a better per-page return than typical advertising.
Scroll also comes with an app that allows you to access every story from its participating sites, and it can even read them to you.
Founding members get half-price ($2.50/mo) for their first six months following the free trial, giving you a longer period to settle in with the service if you're still on the fence. If you're interested, you can sign up for a free trial and enjoy our own site ad-free in the meantime.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linktree’s free workaround lets you add multiple links to your Instagram bio

Image
Instagram only gives you one opportunity to link to outside resources inside its photo sharing platform. This might not be a problem for a majority of the users, but for those wanting a little more customization and even more options, it leaves much to be desired. Enter  Linktree , a free tool for Instagram designed to improve traffic to your outside link, be it a blog, portfolio, or store. How it works is fairly straightforward. After connecting Linktree to your Instagram profile, you’ll receive a single link to place in your Instagram bio. Once that link in place, you can customize what it’s linked to within your browser, be it a single website, or a collection of sites you’re looking to direct followers to Say you’re a photographer who’s using Instagram as a marketing tool for your wedding photography. Using Linktree, you can direct Instagram followers to your blog, your portfolio site, and even your other social media accounts. Until now, you would’ve been stuck choosing b
Read more

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE PIXEL 4, THE MOST-LEAKED PHONE EVER

Image
Google’s  Pixel 3 might have been the  most-leaked phone in history . Long before its unveiling, we knew practically everything about it from unboxing videos, photo comparisons, even a full review of the device. Surely, for the Pixel 4, Google would clamp down on leaks to leave some surprises for its debut on  October 15th , right? Let’s just say, if that was the plan, it didn’t exactly work out. We’ve now seen the Pixel 4 XL from every angle and in three different colors. At least seven different sources have touched this phone, many of them confirming the same specs. We not only know which cameras it’ll have, but also what they may be capable of, including air gestures (go figure). That doesn’t even count information Google has already shared  on purpose. So if you want to know almost everything about the Pixel 4 nearly a month before it’s announced, buckle up. We’ve sifted through all of the rumors and information we can find to compile everything we know — and everything we
Read more

The best antivirus software to download in September 2018

Image
You probably don't need us to tell you just how important it is to download antivirus software for your computer and mobile devices in 2018. But where we can help is to tell you what the best antivirus is right now, having tested and reviewed the latest packages from the biggest names in cyber security. Hackers are always coming up with new ways to gain access to your PC and other internet enabled devices (with your mobile phone and tablet included). Luckily the best antivirus companies are constantly updating their security software packages. We're already starting to see their 2019 packages come to market, with user experience tweaks and the latest protection against phishing scams, ransomware and all other types of viruses and malware. Right now, we think that  Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019  is the best antivirus that your money can buy  (or  head here for UK pricing ). It combines watertight antivirus tools with an array of other excellent security features a
Read more