Online ads have a seriously bad rap — banner ads are annoying and no one likes sitting through a video about diapers before tucking into a Saturday Night Live clip on YouTube.

The recently launched Australian startup Make Some Change, founded by Michael Battle and Jesse Richardson, is proposing a different equation. Instead of being forced to watch a brand's message when you are not in the mood, you can visit the Make Some Change website and the company will donate cash to charity when you view ads on their site.

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To this end, the team have created a digital currency called Change coins, Battle and Richardson told Mashable Australia. Change coins are generated each time a piece of content is viewed, and the person who watched the clip can choose a charity on the site they'd like to donate it to.

Unlike other digital currencies such as Bitcoin, the value of the Change coin is tied to the U.S. dollar. One Change coin is worth five U.S. cents, and about seven Australian cents.

Currently, 35% of all the startup's revenue from Change coins goes back to supporting charities, 35% goes towards amplifying the message of brands and bringing people to the platform, and the remaining 30% goes "to us to keep the lights on." Make Some Change has also secured seed funding of A$800,000 (US$581,044).

Make Some Change founders, Jesse Richardson and Michael Battle. Image: Make Some Change

Battle and Richardson, who both have a background in advertising, want to give both charities and businesses a winning outcome. "Advertisers don’t want to interrupt their users from watching their cat videos and give them a negative brand experience," Battle said. "Similarly, charities don’t want to talk people out of money."

On launch, the startup said they're working with brands like insurer AAMI and Australia Post, and charities including anti-poverty organisation Oaktree and animal-rights group RSPCA Happy Paws Happy Hearts.

The pair believe their platform will succeed because the current interruption advertising model isn’t sustainable in the long term. "When you think of digital advertising, you think of banner ads, or you think of a pre-roll video on YouTube," Battle said. "Most of them are things you don't see at all, or are in a hurry to skip."

On Make Some Change, the founders suggest, users are actually opting-in to watch something, which makes them even more valuable to advertisers. "When you're in the market for a car, all of a sudden, car ads are interesting," Battle explained. "If people are actually opting-in to watch these messages, they're not even ads anymore — it's much more like shopping."

Make Some Change is looking to add music discovery and other forms of content in the coming weeks and months.

Like most online platforms, it will allow advertisers to target ads. "If they want to talk to 18- to 24-year-old females in metro areas to sell coffee, then we'll be giving them the opportunity," Battle said.

For a national brand, an average ad buy could be around A$100,000 (US$72,631), Richardson said. Make Some Change is hoping to get a portion of that budget. "While you could theoretically put your entire ad budget with us, what we expect is some [of the pot] will go with us, some will go with YouTube, some will go with Google, some will go with Facebook," Richardson said.

Peter Birch, managing director of 4th Screen Advertising at Mobile Embrace, told Mashable Australia Make Some Change might appeal to brands but there are some questions that remain about its appeal to consumers.

"Brands want a safe, quality environment, with engaging ads targeted to their core consumer at the right place at the right time," Birch explained. "Brands want to make sure their ads will be placed alongside quality content … The other factor is, if you're able to enrich that inventory with data, and accurate data targeting, then what you're really doing is ticking every box."

Ultimately, the platform will rise and fall on the quality of the content, Birch suggested. How they'll drive people to their site is another question. "The idea is good, but I don't understand why people will go there in the first place," he said.

The founders said they are implementing a campaign to publicise the platform, and they also hope Make Some Change will spill into the physical world. At some point, when you buy a coffee, you could ask for your change in Change, they suggest.

They're also planning to build a customer rewards component — Change coins you earn could generate points, which could be redeemed for meals or even plane tickets.

Make Some Change plans to expand internationally, and they are looking at launching in the U.S in 2016.

Asked if they'd like to see Make Some Change integrated into existing video models, such as YouTube, the founders said they're open to it. "Our philosophical model is we're agonistic, in that respect," Richardson said. "We’re about profit and purpose."

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