Qchain, an American-based blockchain company, is here to streamline the fastest-growing sector of the digital advertising agency: native advertising. With a finger to the pulse of digital advertising, Qchain has observed the decline of programmatic and traditional display ad revenue, and closely followed the rise of native ads. (Market forecasts predict that by 2020, rise of native in-feed ads will comprise 74% of display ad revenue.) Qchain applies blockchain to a growth market, building innovation upon innovation.
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Qchain’s long-term vision is to build a suite of open and transparent applications that provide decentralized and secure solutions for digital advertisers, in-house marketers, content publishers and everyday Internet users alike. The company’s flagship application is a direct buy marketplace that will make it easy and simple for advertisers and publishers to transact in native ad units, with a particular focus on sponsored content.
Qchain is building with convenience and usability in mind first. The company is prioritizing speaking with advertising and content publishers to design an interface from the ground up that fits their needs. The goal is more than a marketplace, but rather, a collaborative sales platform that can allow advertisers and content publishers to go back and forth to arrive at the customized and tailored sponsored content solutions that satisfy both parties.
The blockchain back-end is only one component of the product. With advertising domain-specific experience in mind, the company is focusing on front-end usability on top of decentralized and transparent back-end tech. The aim is to make an easy-to-learn, intuitive front-end interface informed by advertising and content publishing advisors and partners.
The company is also mindful of the challenges that loom on the horizon for digital advertisers. In the near future, for instance, marketers will need to face changes technology and policy, such as Safari’s new tracking restrictions, and the European Union’s impending GDPR implementation, which will make it difficult for advertisers to reach consumers without their consent.
Moreover, as revenue models shift from measuring by cost-per-impression and cost-per-click, Qchain is devoting time to figuring out how to make a cost-per-conversion model effective and impervious to manipulation.
“Going towards a cost-per-conversion revenue model is something that could help fight ad fraud, as CPC and CPI metrics can be easily gamed and don’t necessarily correlate to conversions,” said CEO Wally Xie. “However, successful conversions could be harder to track in the post-GDPR and post-cookie world. We at Qchain are figuring out a means of tracking conversions that balances user consent with convenience.”
After making good on a promise to release a demo prior to announcing an ICO, Qchain launched a crowdsale on October 24th, open until December 5th. Contributors have the option of contributing with Ether or XEM to buy the company’s tokens on each respective blockchain. As of this writing, the company has raised over $500,000 USD, an amount that will go straight to further development of the product. A beta is slated to roll out in Q2 2018.
Make life easier for journalistic outlets is an overarching intention for the company. “Journalism is important as the fourth estate of society,” said CEO Wally Xie. “A new model is necessary if native is to continue to thrive and publishers are to survive. Qchain is here to provide it. Building from the direct buy sponsored content marketplace and sales platform, our long term vision is to innovate journalism.”
