Browsers are one of the most important user agents (software applications that act on behalf of the user) on the Geo Web. They are the main portal for user experiences on the network.
It’s very important to create a robust market for open-source spatial browsers for the Geo Web, so that users can retain control/choice over their data, user experience, and content.
On the traditional web, there’s Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, etc. There’s more choice and freedom than the app store paradigm, but the business model/incentives are still off. Web browsers are typically a funnel for user data, a strategic lever to control another part of the stack, and/or dependent on the generosity of benefactors, grants, and developers.
We think that the Geo Web treasury can be utilized to create a transparent, economically sustainable open-source business model for spatial browsers.
Here’s a super high-level idea of how we could directly pay (open-source) browser developers out of the treasury based on the popularity of their browser in a credibly neutral way:
Users can download and use their spatial browser(s) of choice
Periodically, the browser prompts their users to sign a timestamped message with their Ethereum wallet declaring that they are in fact using Browser X
The browser aggregates these messages and periodically submits them to a Geo Web treasury funded smart contract
The smart contract pays browser developers a reward for each active user that they have (via the signed message) during the time period
Unique users can be identified through an anti-sybil service such as Proof of Humanity or BrightID—we could even bake in a “UBI payment” to the user to incentivize this and Geo Web adoption
If a user signs multiple messages during a time period (i.e., they use multiple browsers), those two or more browser developers split the budgeted per user award
There are versions of this that utilize steaming payment mechanisms like SuperFluid, but the basic structure applies. Browser developers make money and compete in the open market by making better, more private, and more user-friendly browsers. Their business model is aligned with their users’ interests.