You're right, I also believe there's a lot of value in this. I wrote an article about the exponential effects of "perceived attention value" that might interest you:
As for multi-currency support, a @blocktrades integration in the future could support direct conversion to support other cryptos as payment for ads.
I don't mind the multi-currency so much at the moment depending on how the ads are going to be sourced as for me the most important part of integrating ads is that they are used to add buying pressure to hive on the markets.
Whatever source the ads are coming from if that is payed in bitcoin to a custodial account, that the money is used to purchase hive from the markets and add buying pressure to the hive token. If it is USD that again it's used to purchase hive and distribute that amount between the accounts showing the ads.
A lot of which would get powered up and use their voting power to attract more people into their community and further the positive cycle.
Ads will only add value to hive if they are coming from an external source with an external source of revenue to feed into our system. If the ads are only sourced internally from hive the demand won't be there for them and it will only be hive getting recycled rather than outside money coming into the system and feeding the token price which is what we badly need.
If the hive for ads is bought externally first and then used to buy ad space that works too but i'm not sure how many advertising sources would go to that trouble or if there is more to be made from already existing infrastructure that requires less effort. Simplicity is always key and most companies just want to pay per click or google ads...ect.
Just some thoughts as I don't know what your plans are with the design to allow ads on HIVE but i'm sure that you have a plan and have come up with a good one. Have you checked out the @leofinance site as they have already brought this into play for their tribe and have been using the ad revenue to buy their token from the market and add value to it?
https://leofinance.io/hive-167922/@steem.leo/july-leoad-report-all-time-high-for-leofinance-users-and-ad-revenue
I agree with your point on simplicity. Front-ends will be free to use whatever token models they want, I'm keeping flexibility in mind when designing the protocol.
I suspect that there will be services that bridge that gap and bring fiat money, other cryptos and traditional ad agencies into the Hive economy, through Native Ads. It will be an opportunity for entrepreneurs. If our dApps have attention that can be monetized, many ways to bridge the gaps will be developed. I'll make sure the core protocol supports it.
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'll share more aspects of the design when I make an alpha release and keep seeking feedback from the community.
Great to hear it. Keep up the good work and looking forward to more updates. I think that this is the most important thing being built for hive right now and appreciate the work that you are putting into it.
💪