Basic Attention Token: Will BAT Revolutionize Digital Advertising?

By
Nick Cuttonaro
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4966

Basic Attention Token Official Logo

What is Basic Attention Token?

Basic Attention Token, or BAT as it is commonly known, is a revolutionary new method of online advertising that maintains user privacy, boosts website loading speed, enables advertisers to effectively reach their target audience and rewards publishers for putting out quality content.

In addition to being a cryptocurrency that’s bought and sold, it’s important to discover how it works, what it has to offer and how it has the potential to benefit you personally.

Brave Browser: Our Review & Notes

The Basic Attention Token was created to work on Brave, a new browser designed by Mozilla Project and JavaScript founder Brendan Eich and his team. While it has many competitors, Brave stands out from other web browsers for several important reasons.

Google Chrome, Mozilla, Internet Explorer often take time to load because pages are not only loading content but also underlying ad technology that is attempting to learn more about every single user that visits a site. Brave, on the other hand, loads content on its own, which means that sites load more than twice as fast as they would on other browsers.

Furthermore, Brave blocks website trackers and removes all intrusive forms of internet advertising. You no longer have to worry about advertisers tracking your every online move; they only have as much access to your data as you specifically allow.

Brave is freeware and can be installed at no cost on just about any computer. At present, the browser is compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS.

Brendan Eich: BAT Leadership & Management Team

Brendan Eich is a well-known tech and Internet entrepreneur. His many accomplishments include creating the JavaScript programming language, overseeing the development of SpiderMonkey and co-founding the Mozilla Project.

At present, there are ten other team members on the Brave Software Team. Brian R. Bondy is the co-founder of the company as well as the lead browser engineer. He previously worked for Firefox as well as Khan Academy. Marshall Rose manages the ledger and wallet systems. He is perhaps best known for his extensive work with the Internet Engineering Task Force as well as for the nine published books he has written on Internet-related topics.

Other team members include:

– Yan Zhu: – Senior engineer in charge of privacy and security. MIT physics alum
– Scott Locklin – Senior engineer in charge of BAT smart contracts and economics
– Bradley Richter – Brand and Interaction Designer
– Catherine Corre – Communication Manager
– Brian Brown – Go-to-Market Manager
– Brian Johnson – Senior engineer in charge of electron and Chromium integrations
– Aubrey Keus – Handles automation and works on wallet systems with Marshall Rose
– Luke Mulks – Ad tech expert

Brave Software is currently looking for more qualified individuals to fill a number of positions. The company needs a senior UX/product designer, another ad tech engineer, a project manager, a senior Chromium engineer for Android devices, a Muon senior Chromium engineer, a senior cloud engineer to work directly on BAT and a Chromium engineer to manage security.

Interested in joining their team? Learn more about what the company is looking for on their Medium blog.

Basic Attention Token: White Paper Breakdown

There are several large flaws in current online advertising platforms that affect not only users but also advertisers. As was touched on above, users are continually bombarded with ads based on website activity detected by their internet browser. What is more, hackers are often able to insert what looks like genuine advertisements in the mix. These advertisements, when clicked on, may direct users to pages with malicious software, upload ransomware onto a computer or simply harvest private information for future nefarious uses.

The current online advertising system doesn’t serve advertisers very well either. Internet users can simply install ad-blocking programs so they don’t have to see the advertisements. While such programs are undoubtedly ideal for the over 600 million consumers who use them, ad-blocking software does make it hard for companies to promote their goods and/or services. Some online ad platforms lack accurate metrics and all of them act as middlemen between companies and consumers, siphoning off money that business owners could use for other purposes.

BAT solves all these problems by providing a secure, anonymous, opt-in advertising platform. Users can opt to see certain advertisements from companies they are genuinely interested in; alternatively, they can pay a fee to not see any advertisements at all. What is more, those who opt to see a few ads are compensated in BAT tokens for doing so. Companies have access to top of the line metrics that improve advertising ROI. At the same time, online publishers also receive revenue based on user attention. This provides a strong motivation for publishers to offer top quality content instead of hosting multiple advertisements on a website.

To learn more, check out the Basic Attention Token official white paper published on May 29th 2017.

Basic Attention Token ICO

BAT uses its own unique token system instead of a traditional currency. It is called BAT and is based on the well-known cryptocurrency Ethereum. When Brave put up its digital tokens for sale, the company generated $35 million and sold out all its tokens in under a minute.

How Does BAT Reduce Digital Advertising Fraud?

BAT reduces some of the most common forms of digital advertising fraud. The platform completely eliminates third party traffic sourcing, stores private data on the Brave browser or a BAT enabled app instead of transmitting it online and measures metrics on the device instead of using a third party system.

Overview of the Brave browser ecosystem

The latter feature is particularly beneficial to advertisers who are often served inflated data by companies out for advertising dollars.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Is BAT a new digital currency?

BAT is a medium of exchange for users, publishers and advertisers who use the Brave browser. BAT also functions as a digital currency which holds value.

2) Can BATs be transferred and traded?

BATs can be transferred on the Brave browser. They can also be traded on third party websites and digital currency exchanges such as Bittrex.

3) How can I store and view my BATs?

You can store BATs on any online wallet program that supports ERC20 tokens. Your chosen wallet will also allow you to view your BATs at will.

4) What should I do if I have problems transferring BATs from one wallet to another?

Brave Software does not control or maintain online wallets. Those who have transfer problems should contact the wallet provider for assistance. For additional support, check out BAT’s FAQ page on their website.

BAT & Brave: Why Advertisers and Publishers Care?

BAT is an easy to use currency that buys advertising slots to reach only viewers that have expressed a clear interest in viewing the ads. This offers advertisers a high ROI as ads are more likely to generate sales on Brave than on any other platform. At the same time, Brave rewards publishers who put up top quality content as publishers not only earn money when users click on displayed ads but also when users spend a certain amount of time viewing the website.

BAT may not be considered a “currency” by people who do not fully understand how digital currency works, but it is valuable nonetheless. BAT is tied to Bitcoin but can also be exchanged for Ethereum, US dollars and even Chinese Yuan.

How to Buy Basic Attention Tokens

BAT tokens can be purchased on Liqui’s exchange, Bter and Bittrex. Costs may vary according to buyer speculation and trade volume; however, it is important to be aware that no new tokens will be created once the user growth pool is exhausted.

Furthermore, BAT tokens are backed by the rock solid Brave management team with extensive experience creating winning products. With respect to coin pricing, BAT is greatly undervalued. With purpose, utility, and a team who achieved levels of success experienced by few, this is a great coin to add to your portfolio to hold for the long haul.

BAT Token: Learn More by Getting Social

Brave previously used Slack to communicate with community members; unfortunately, the channel was manipulated by bad actors who sent out false messages. Brave subsequently moved to Rocket.chat and the full story can be read here.

You can also find out about their latest developments by reading the company’s official blog at Medium, checking out their Reddit channel or following on Twitter at @attentiontoken.

What do other people think?

Basic Attention Token: Some Final Thoughts

BAT is an entirely new system based on modern technological developments that benefit users, publishers and advertisers. While it is still in Beta Testing, it is already showing a great deal of potential and interest. The newest version of Brave has received mostly positive reviews from critics and buyers have already shown enthusiastic interest by snapping up $BAT tokens as soon as they became available through their ICO and with continued momentum once $BAT became available for purchase on the exchanges.

Naturally, it may take time for a new browser with a lot of competition to gain traction. However, the odds of Brave becoming a major player are high as the product is backed and managed by an unbeatable team of experts and offers valuable services that simply cannot be obtained from any browser currently in use.

Disclosure: Author of this post holds $BAT tokens at the time this review was published.

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