The Problem

Personal data should be kept private. We’ve reached a point in society where people opt in to share all of their online activity in exchange to use a service. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that companies collecting data turn around and sell it to the highest bidder. Not only does this encourage companies to hoard more data, it also encourages them track user activity across websites.

This is completely opposed to our notion of privacy.

Last quarter alone (2017 Q3), Facebook generated 10 billion dollars off ad revenue. That money is entirely based off the activity of its users and the collection of their data. Platforms that depend on user created content have made it increasingly difficult for content creators to receive their fair share. Youtube requires creators to have at least 10,000 views before they can make any money on ads. A majority of social platforms have unrestricted data mining that extracts value from their users, while providing creators with exactly $0 in ad revenue.

Web 3.0 Approaches

Web 3.0 companies are looking to address this disproportionate distribution of ad revenues. A successfully funded project, BasicAttentionToken (BAT) has a token economy whose value is derived from user attention. The company is partnering with the Brave Browser, which is a browser aiming to create a transparent Blockchain-based digital marketing.

Another company, BitClave is building a decentralized search engine that allows users to be compensated with CAT tokens for their search activity.

Both of these are excellent approaches to fairly reward internet users. Our innovative ad platform will empower users in the context where users spend most of their time:

Social.

Our Solution

Using the Blockchain, Sapien and the SPN token will provide a viable alternative to existing social platforms.

User privacy is a critical part of our philosophy, and as such we will allow users to have complete control over their relationship with advertisements on Sapien. By default, users will see no advertisements and no personal user data will be collected without a user’s knowledge.

Users

If a user decides to see ads, all revenue generated will be split between the user and Sapien, with the user receiving no less than 50% of this revenue in the form of SPN tokens. Users will be able to increase the % of ad revenue they receive by staking SPN on Sapien.

By default, user data will not be collected on Sapien. Users will be able to choose what data, if any, they want to share with advertisers. Users will receive a greater percentage of ad revenue for sharing their data with advertisers. The percentage of ad revenue received by a user will be based on a tiered system, with users receiving a greater percentage if they have more SPN tokens staked. This is shown in the table below, where percentile of SPN staked is the percentage of users that have less staked SPN than a user.

Advertisers

Ads will be purchasable on Sapien with SPN tokens and will be served to users who have enabled them. Advertisers will receive a substantial discount for purchasing ads with SPN tokens. Advertisers will be able to place ads on public branches that align with their target audience. The advertising experience will be similar to existing social platforms, except a majority of ad revenue will be given to users.

Sapien

The majority of revenue earned from ad purchases will be distributed to users who have enabled ads. Users will receive at least 50 percent of the revenue from ad purchases. The ratio of revenue distributed is dynamic and will be adjusted to keep the platform afloat. All ad transactions will be publicly viewable on etherscan.io. This way, Sapien can assure transparency and our users will retain full control over their experience on the platform.

Conclusion

Sapien will return power back to the user, giving them full control of their data and their experience. By sharing revenue with our users, we hope to create a sustainable business model that aligns the values of SPN token holders, platform users, and company shareholders.