The TollBit Blog
October 22, 2024
Announcing Our Series A
TollBit founders Olivia Joslin and Toshit Panigrahi today announced that the company has raised $24M led by Lightspeed in Series A funding for their platform, which has created a fluid payment system benefitting both AI companies and content creators. TollBit allows AI agents and applications to pay websites directly to use their content or data. TollBit empowers publishers and content owners to monitor AI bot traffic and put up a tollbooth to monetize usage. The platform makes it easy for publishers to onboard multiple AI and LLM partners in real-time. The first clients have begun to use the system, which will benefit content creators and make AI more useful and up-to-date.
March 8, 2024
Where Does the Ad Money Go?
The current model of digital advertising is on the cusp of a seismic shift. For as long as most of us have known the internet, a silent transaction underpinned most of what we encountered online: advertisers funded websites in exchange for the promise of our attention. In the background, ads loaded alongside articles, or played before videos, and revenue trickled in based on impressions or clicks. Yet, the rise of AI assistants threatens to turn this familiar system on its head.
February 22, 2024
A Tale of Two Futures: Scraping or Tolls
The internet stands at a pivotal crossroads. The way we choose to handle the rise of powerful AI technology will irrevocably determine the kind of digital future we create. Before us lie two starkly contrasting visions, each fueled by the same source: the endless stream of data and content flowing through the internet.
February 12, 2024
The Sinkhole is Opening, Publishers Are the Start
The way we consume information on the internet is undergoing radical change. AI-powered bots and assistants, capable of scraping and synthesizing information from the open web, are shifting how we find answers and learn about the world. While convenient for users, this spells impending doom for businesses built on the old foundation of web traffic.
February 2, 2024
The New Era of Internet
The Internet we've known, for all its promise of accessibility, often falls short of true information democracy. Finding accurate, in-depth knowledge frequently means navigating complex paywalls, biased search rankings, and siloed platforms built to capture our attention, not empower our minds. With the advent of AI assistants, there might be a chance to break down barriers and rewire how we access the collective knowledge humanity has gathered online.