Google and Facebook too can be disrupted: opinion

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of US online social media and social networking service Facebook in Nantes, France. Facebook on November 27, 2017 said stepping up the use of artificial intelligence to identify members of the leading social network who may be thinking of suicide. Software will look for clues in posts or even in videos being streamed at Facebook Live, then fire off reports to human reviewers and speed up alerts to responders trained to help, according to the social network. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

I have long considered today's Internet advertising model a scam: it's a system in which giant, monopolistic companies – Google and Facebook – are selling inflated user numbers and overhyped targeting opportunities to advertisers while collecting way too much information about users and cheating content creators out of their fair share of revenue. 

It may not be too late to fix it, though. Just ask Brendan Eich, founder and chief executive officer of Brave Software, a San Francisco-based startup whose attempt to change the standards could be considered quixotic if not for Eich's track record.