Ello first made its claim to fame approximately a month ago as it positioned itself as the “anti-Facebook” site. The site, which began as a community for designers and artists had then said that “advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold. We believe there is a better way,” it added.
Last week Ello reassured many of its users of its stand. It sent out an email blast to its users stating that the ad stream revenue model is not what the social media site is there for.
“With virtually everybody else relying on ads to make money, some members of the tech elite are finding it hard to imagine there is a better way. But 2014 is not 2004, and the world has changed.”
To assure that Ello always remains ad-free, Ello converted to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). A Benefit Corporation is a new kind of for-profit company in the USA that exists to produce a benefit for society as a whole and not just to make money for its investors, it said.
As such, the Ello PBC charter vows to do the following:
1) Ello shall never make money from selling ads;
2) Ello shall never make money from selling user data; and
3) In the event that Ello is ever sold, the new owners will have to comply by these terms.