In February 2018, Salon offered some ad-blocking visitors a choice: view ads, subscribe, or let the site use their browser to mine Monero. The experiment aimed to earn revenue from readers who otherwise generated little advertising income. Salon said mining was opt-in, but CyberScoop’s testing found that the site’s behavior did not always match that description.
Why Salon looked beyond advertising
Salon’s experiment responded to a familiar publisher problem: ad blockers can prevent ads from appearing, leaving a publisher with less advertising revenue even though it still pays to produce and deliver its journalism. Salon’s CEO, Jordan Hoffner, said the company was broadly in line with an industry ad-blocking rate of about 30%. That figure described the industry context he cited in February 2018, not a current measurement of Salon’s audience. CyberScoop’s February 14, 2018 report quoted Hoffner describing the effort as a search for a “new paradigm for the media model.”
Rather than rely only on a subscription or an appeal for donations, Salon tested a third way for readers to contribute value. The broader model paired an ad-supported experience and paid subscriptions with browser mining for visitors who did not want ads. In principle, readers could pay through attention, money, or computing resources.
How Salon’s browser miner worked
Salon embedded Coinhive’s JavaScript-based Monero miner in its website. While a page was open, the visitor’s browser performed mining calculations and Salon received the cryptocurrency generated. This was not Salon operating a warehouse of mining machines: the computation ran on visitors’ devices.
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Monero was a practical fit for browser mining because it could be mined on ordinary computer hardware, unlike Bitcoin mining, which is dominated by specialized equipment. Academic research describes Monero as particularly suitable for browser-based mining for that reason. The study on browser-based cryptocurrency mining supports that technical distinction; it does not establish that Monero was uniquely profitable for publishers. Hoffner described it as a starting point and said Salon wanted a cryptocurrency it could eventually convert to dollars, without offering a detailed comparison of alternatives.
Was mining really optional?
Salon said the system was designed to disclose what it did and ask for permission. Hoffner described the process as double opt-in: users had to click through twice before mining began. But consent has more than one layer: a visitor needs to understand the request, the interface must require an affirmative choice, and the code must wait for that choice before starting.
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CyberScoop’s own testing raised doubts about whether those layers consistently lined up. On one test day, the publication found that Salon’s FAQ page appeared to begin mining immediately; the behavior was different the next day. The discrepancy does not prove that every visitor’s browser mined without consent, but it means Salon’s stated policy cannot be treated as proof that every implementation behaved as intended.
Was Salon cryptojacking readers?
Cryptojacking generally means using another person’s computing resources to mine cryptocurrency without their knowledge or meaningful consent. Coinhive was a legitimate browser-mining service, but its code was also widely inserted into compromised sites and used without permission. CyberScoop reported that the service had become closely associated with malware in cybersecurity circles. SC Media’s account of Coinhive’s closure also describes that security context.
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So it is inaccurate to say simply that Salon infected readers with malware. Salon presented mining as a disclosed revenue option and said it had discussed security risks with Coinhive. At the same time, using the same tool associated with covert mining made clear, reliable consent essential. Salon told CyberScoop it would stop if the system created malware or security problems; the reported inconsistency in testing made the consent question more than a matter of wording.
What did the arrangement cost visitors?
Browser mining used the visitor’s processor. Depending on the device and how mining was configured, that could mean more heat and fan activity, reduced performance, faster battery drain, and additional electricity use. Those costs fell on the visitor, while Salon received the mining proceeds. Their size varied by device, power source, mining intensity, and time; the available reporting does not establish a typical visitor’s net cost.
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The CPU figures reported at the time illustrate why a single number would be misleading. CyberScoop observed processor use above 50% in its test, while Salon said some users saw 3% to 5% on a MacBook Pro. Hoffner acknowledged that the variation was too high and that the company was working to optimize the system. These were observations from particular tests, not a universal specification or a promise about what other visitors would experience.
The burden could be especially noticeable on phones, older computers, or laptops running on battery. Multiple open tabs could compound resource use, and mining on metered electricity could impose a direct cost. For people using older devices or resource-intensive assistive technology, extra CPU load could also make a page or other applications harder to use. A credible consent-based design would need a simple way to stop mining, as well as a clear explanation of when it runs.
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Did mining replace the advertising revenue?
The public evidence does not show that it did. The experiment was roughly 72 hours old when CyberScoop asked Hoffner whether mining made up for lost advertising value. He said it was too early to draw a conclusion; Salon was initially focused on safety and adoption. That supports describing the project as a test of a possible revenue stream, not a proven substitute for ads.
Browser mining also had business risks beyond the amount of computing a visitor supplied. Revenue depended on Monero’s value and mining conditions; browser scripts could be blocked by extensions, security tools, or privacy protections; and readers might distrust a publisher that asked to use their device. The practical trade-off was therefore not simply “ads versus free mining.” It was whether the proceeds justified a variable cost to the visitor and the trust required to explain it.
Why the experiment was not durable
Coinhive announced that it would close in late February 2019, ending mining operations on March 8. It cited a more than 50% decline in hash rate after a Monero hard fork, an over-85% fall in Monero’s value over the preceding year, and another scheduled protocol change. BleepingComputer’s shutdown report summarizes those economic reasons. Coinhive’s service closure meant Salon could not continue the same arrangement through that provider; it does not, by itself, establish what Salon did afterward.
The case shows how a publisher’s attempt to diversify revenue can transfer costs in less visible ways. Ads ask for attention, subscriptions ask for money, and browser mining asks for processing power, electricity, and device capacity. Salon’s proposal made that exchange unusually explicit, but its short-lived infrastructure and unresolved consent concerns show why disclosure, user control, and sustainable economics all matter.
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