flattr

In March 2010, Flattr launched on an invitation-only basis and then opened to the public on 12 August of the same year.{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/08/12/flattr-opens-to-the-public-now-anybody-can-like-a-site-with-real-money/|title=Flattr opens to the public, now anybody can 'Like' a site with real money|author=Steve O'Hear|work=TechCrunch Europe|date=August 12, 2010|accessdate=August 13, 2010}}[http://blog.flattr.com/2010/08/open-beta/ Flattr now open for everyone!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815201037/http://blog.flattr.com/2010/08/open-beta/ |date=2010-08-15 }}

The project was started by Peter Sunde and Linus Olsson. Its first version required users to click on a "flattr" button on websites to "flattr" content. Sunde said, "We want to encourage people to share money as well as content."{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8512263.stm | work=BBC News | title=Pirate boss to make the web pay | date=February 12, 2010 | accessdate=May 2, 2010}} The final version allowed users to pay a monthly donation (provided a minimum of 3 dollars) which was automatically split among websites, pages or platforms that are "{{notatypo|flattrd}}" by Flattr's web extension.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In December 2010, Flattr received large-scale attention when it was tweeted to be a method of donating money to WikiLeaks, which had recently been cut off by PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard.{{cite web|last=Butcher |first=Mike |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/08/wikileaks-continues-to-fund-itself-via-tech-startup-flattr/ |title=WikiLeaks continues to fund itself via tech startup Flattr |publisher=Eu.techcrunch.com |date=2010-12-08 |accessdate=2012-02-03}}

On 28 April 2011, Flattr announced by email that they would not require users to subscribe to donate to others before they could be donated to themselves, starting from 1 May 2011.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/04/28/flattr-goes-free-to-revolutionize-online-payments/#22e93ad0528d|title=Flattr Goes Free To Revolutionize Online Payments|last=Olson|first=Parmy|date=April 28, 2011|website=Forbes|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=August 21, 2019}}

On 16 April 2013, Twitter announced that they would no longer allow Flattr users to donate to favorite sites via the Twitter platform, citing commercial confusion problems they believed would occur between users.{{cite web |author=Linus Olsson |date=16 April 2013 |title=Twitter is forcing us to drop users ability to flattr creators by favoriting their tweets |publisher=Flattr blog |url=http://blog.flattr.net/2013/04/twitter-is-forcing-us-to-drop-users-ability-to-flattr-creators-by-favoriting-their-tweets/ |access-date=15 May 2013 |archive-date=16 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516072401/http://blog.flattr.net/2013/04/twitter-is-forcing-us-to-drop-users-ability-to-flattr-creators-by-favoriting-their-tweets/ |url-status=dead }}

In May 2016, Flattr partnered with the developer of the ad blocking browser extension Adblock Plus to create Flattr Plus, a service which allows users to automatically distribute a designated budget of monthly payments to web publishers based on their engagement. The service was conceived as a way for users to support online publishers as an alternative to advertising.{{cite web|title=AdBlock Plus teams up with Flattr to help readers pay publishers|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/03/adblock-plus-teams-up-with-flattr-to-help-readers-pay-publishers/|website=TechCrunch|accessdate=5 April 2017}}

On 5 April 2017, Adblock Plus publisher Eyeo GmbH announced that it had acquired Flattr for an undisclosed amount. Flattr also announced a beta of an overhauled "zero-click" version of the service adapted from the Flattr Plus concept.{{cite web|title=The company behind Adblock Plus is acquiring micropayment service Flattr|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/05/adblock-plus-acquires-flattr/|website=TechCrunch|publisher=AOL|accessdate=5 April 2017}}

On 24 October 2017, Flattr announced the launch of “Flattr 2.0”.{{Cite news|url=https://thenextweb.com/tech/2017/10/24/flattr-now-lets-pay-content-creators-without-actually-anything/|title=Flattr now lets you pay content creators without having to actually do anything|last=Hughes|first=Matthew|date=2017-10-24|work=The Next Web|access-date=2018-03-02|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://blog.flattr.com/2017/10/todays-the-day-flattr-2-0-launches-to-the-public/|title=Today's the day: Flattr 2.0 launches to the public!|website=blog.flattr.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-02|archive-date=2018-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302164310/https://blog.flattr.com/2017/10/todays-the-day-flattr-2-0-launches-to-the-public/|url-status=dead}} This version of Flattr was a zero-click service for automatic denoting of content on the web and various platforms as donation-worthy. Content creators had only to link their websites or supported platforms to be able to receive payments.

On 24 May 2018, Flattr made changes to their privacy policy to comply with the GDPR and began deleting previously collected user activity after three months. Flattr's old privacy policy allowed them to keep a record of their subscribers’ web browsing history indefinitely.{{Cite news|date=2018-05-30|title=Flattr now deletes your web browsing history within 3 months|url=https://www.ctrl.blog/entry/flattr-gdpr|website=Ctrl blog}}

Flattr 2.0 was able to be used on websites via a meta tag, and supported various creator platforms including YouTube, Wordpress, Vimeo, Twitter, Twitch, SoundCloud, GitHub, 500px and Flickr.

In 2012, Flattr received €1.6 million in funding from Passion Capital Investments, LLP and Federico Pirzio-Biroli.{{cite news|title=Flattr secures $2.1 million in venture funding|newspaper=Financial Deals Tracker|date=16 February 2012}}{{cite web|title='Cat's out of the bag – yes, Flattr now has investors'|url=http://blog.flattr.net/2012/02/cats-out-of-the-bag-yes-flattr-now-has-investors/|work=FlattrBlog|accessdate=22 March 2013}}

As part of its collaboration with Flattr, Eyeo GmbH also made an investment in Flattr.

In 2017, Flattr became a supporting partner of MozFest, Mozilla's annual festival devoted to a healthy web.{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/mozilla-festival/flattr-a-champion-of-digital-creators-signs-on-as-mozfest-sponsor-2785207a5e7|title=Flattr, a Champion of Digital Creators, Signs on as MozFest Sponsor|last=Mozilla|date=2017-10-10|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2019-08-21}}

• Best New Startup in 2010 - TechCrunch Europe.[https://techcrunch.com/2010/11/20/the-europas-european-startup-awards-2010-the-winners-and-finalists/ The Europas European Startup Awards 2010 - The Winners and Finalists]
• Hoola Bandoola Band award.{{Cite web |url=http://blog.flattr.net/2011/02/hoola-bandoola-band-award/ |title=Hoola Bandoola Band-award - Flattr blog |access-date=2011-02-03 |archive-date=2011-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206004629/http://blog.flattr.net/2011/02/hoola-bandoola-band-award/ |url-status=dead }}
• Top-10 in Netexplorateur 2011.

• {{section link|Brave (web browser)#Brave Rewards}}
• Google Contributor

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• {{Official website|https://flattr.com/}}

{{Payment service providers}}

Category:Digital currencies

Category:Payment service providers

Category:Micropayment

Category:Swedish companies established in 2010