The Invention of the internet is one of the greatest miracles created by mankind in the digital age. Almost all facets of life today are, in one way or another, connected to the internet; from making new friends, find an apartment to move in, landing the next job, communicating with our loved ones, entertaining ourselves, checking up recipes to make a special meal for a loved one, etc. The list is endless. Basically, there is very little that happens in our lives today that does not involve the use of the internet.

As we continue to evolve as humans, even our needs must evolve. Over time, our digital needs have evolved and we have changed how we interact with the internet. As a consequence, the internet has equally undergone several changes to suit the evolving needs of its users. Ever since the internet was invented in the 1980s, it has undergone three distinct phases namely web1, web2 and web3. Web1 refers to the original internet up until early 2000s. Web2 refers to the version of the internet from early 2000s up until the current version, while web3 refers to the version of the internet that is open and decentralized. Web3 is still in its infancy as it is yet to go mainstream. Therefore, web3 is the generation of internet that is poised to be the next phase of how users interact with the internet. The key features of web1, web2, and web3 are summarized as follows.

Web1

This is the first iteration of the internet. It only had a few content creators. Internet pages were static (it was like reading a magazine), and internet users were merely consumers of internet content.

The first website ever

Web2
As the internet evolved into web2, we started to witness a generation of the internet where content was user-generated. For example, anyone could create a blog or join a social media platform and post their original thoughts. In web2, there was interaction and collaboration among internet users. Instead of the static version of web1, web2 had dynamic content that was responsive to user input.

Web3

In the third iteration of the internet, data isn’t owned by and controlled by one authority, but instead shared by users who are also the creators of the content. Internet users are the owners of the content they share. Web3 is decentralized, meaning that it is not controlled by a singular authority. Thus, no one can exclude anyone from using the internet.

Advertising in web1, web2 and web3

One sector that has had to evolve with the internet is the advertising industry. The internet has created a digital marketplace where advertisers have found a platform to push their products and services to potential users. The methods that advertisers have had to push adverts in the digital space have evolved with the different versions of the internet. In summary, the following are the ways in which adverts on the internet have had to evolve:

Advertising in web1:
As content was static, it was mainly banner adverts. Everyone who visits a particular web page sees the same advert.

Advertising in web2:
This phase ushered in an era of interactive advertising. Advertisers could now control what is shown to different users by gathering information about users via cookies. Personal data was used to create a profile that made it easy to target specific adverts to each user. At this point, personal data became such a priceless asset as advertisers could use it to target adverts according to a user's personal details. Thus, advertisers were willing to engage in underhand methods just to collect as much personal information as possible. Some of the methods used to collect data in web2 were akin to spying. Personal data was collected by third parties to be sold to the highest bidding advertiser. Pathetic!

Advertising in web3:
This is an era of behavioral advertising. Behavioral advertising is based on an internet user's browsing activity over time and across multiple websites. Therefore, each user is exposed to their own unique set of adverts as they navigate the internet. However, no personal information has to be collected from the user because adverts are targeted solely based on internet behaviour. Based on the browsing behaviour, a user is shown adverts that are most likely to be of interest to them. This has the potential to increase the performance of adverts, at the same time delivering better utility to internet users.

Web3 advertising...... Welcome, Adshares!

Web3 advertising is a revolution, a disruptor. It flips the big tech type of advertising on its head. Decentralized advertising is such a relief for internet users, who for a long time now, have lacked control over how advertisers collect their personal data and how much of it they collect, as well as who they share the data with. Facebook and Google are some of the big tech companies who have been cited on several occasions of using intrusive (and somewhat illegal) means to push products and services to internet users.
As we welcome the era of web3 advertising, Adshares is leading the pack of decentralized advertisers. Adshares is a decentralized advertising protocol that is leading the evolution of the advertising industry. It is a block chain project that makes use of the native token $ADS for offline auctions, micropayments and rewarding users of the network as the network grows. A 100% decentralized auction protocol designed for advertising, Adshares stands firm on six main selling points:

• It is a block chain project that connects publishers and advertisers directly. Thus, eliminating the middleman. As a protocol utilizing the blockchain technology, it means all transactions are on a public ledger for all to see. Both creators and advertisers can follow transactions to see who is paying for what. This is the type of transparency that is lacking in the conventional ways of advertising. Additionally, peer-to-peer transactions improves efficiency, and reduces costs as there is no need for a third party to process transactions.
• As no personal data is required in the process of targeting adverts, there is increased privacy among the internet users. Internet users do not have to worry about their personal data being used to design adverts for them as the protocol only uses browsing behavior to show adverts.
• Adshares protocol boasts of super fast speeds of up to 14 million transactions per second. Transactions per second tell you how quickly transactions will be processed per unit time. Therefore, a higher speed means more transactions can be processed within a given time, thereby preventing congestion of the network. Compare the speed of the Adshares network with some of the leading block chains:

• Transaction fees are extremely low, such that an advertiser does not have to be big in order to be able to afford to advertise on web3. This eliminates the barriers to entry, especially for small advertisers.
• Holders of $ADS can stake and get rewards for holding the cryptocurrency.
• The protocol is multi-chain, transacting on Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain, with plans of expanding to other block chains in the future.

How Adshares will lead the evolution of the advertising industry

Without a doubt, the future of Ashares is bright. Personally, I'm betting on Adshares to succeed based on two fundamental reasons. The first one is that the era of the decentralized internet is upon us, and the only way advertisers will survive in the new dispensation is by embracing web3 protocols of advertising. Web3 monetization is growing by the day, and Adshares has chosen to pioneer this growth by jumping in first. They will grow. Big.
Secondly, the metaverse is not only a 2021 buzzword, it is a concept that is coming to fruition in more ways than one. Going forward, the metaverse will actually be a place where internet users spend a lot of their time. Therefore, monetizing the metaverse will certainly be a growing trend among both publishers and creators. Currently, Adshares adserver platforms allow users to rent space in the metaverse, websites, blockchain games, and NFT galleries. It must be noted that adserver is a way to start and maintain an advertising network for free using Adshares open source software. Adshares is making it easier for users to monetize the web3.