Tipbar

Advertisers

Reach developers at the one moment they are staring at the screen.

One clearly-labeled sponsor line, shown only while a developer's AI coding agent is working. You pay for verified, deduped human clicks, and the counter is open source, so you can audit every number before you spend a cent.

Founding charter

$50 = 20 verified human clicks,
guaranteed, or it is free.

A slot at EthicalAds starts around $1,000, and a TLDR newsletter slot runs about $15,000. This is $50, and you pay only for real, deduped, human clicks. Requesting a slot takes a few minutes; a person reviews it, writes the ad line with you, and gets you live.

  • Real human clicks or it is free. You pay for nothing else.
  • Audit it yourself. The click counter is open source; any gap is refunded.
  • No contract. Cancel anytime, unspent balance refunded, founding rate locked six months.
Request a founding slot

This is a brand-new channel and it is underpriced relative to what it returns. That will not last, which is why the founding rate is locked for six months.

Counting you can audit.

Sell clicks, not impressions

Menu-bar viewability is unprovable, so we do not ask you to trust it. You buy verified, deduped human clicks, gated server-side on a real active-agent state.

Second-price auction

Pricing clears on a second-price (Vickrey) auction, which removes any shill-bid suspicion. There is a published reserve floor and clicks bill at a transparent multiplier.

A published ledger

Developer payouts are posted in a public ledger. If the counter ever shows a gap, the difference is refunded.

Who can advertise

Trust here is earned, and it stays revocable.

Now

Curated founding sponsors only

At launch, every advertiser is a reputable developer-tool company we hand-picked and reviewed personally. No self-serve, no exceptions. This is the moment of maximum scrutiny and we want zero surprises in the feed.

Next

KYC-lite self-serve

As we open self-serve, new advertisers are admitted through lightweight verification: a real business identity or an established domain, plus a verified payment method. New accounts start with lower spend caps and tighter review.

Always

Human creative review

Every creative and every landing page is reviewed by a person before it can serve, at every tier, forever. Automated scanning is a floor, not a substitute.

Creative standards

Clearly labeled

Every ad is marked Sponsored, on every impression. Non-negotiable.

No animation abuse

No flashing, blinking, or rapid motion. One tasteful line, matching the app's restraint.

The page matches the ad

What the ad promises is what the page delivers. No bait-and-switch, no cloaking, no swapping the destination after approval.

One format

The labeled sponsor line. No expanding units, no interstitials, no takeovers.

What we will never run

These categories are banned outright. No spend level, no track record, and no exception unlocks them. A published ban list gives us a clean, non-arbitrary basis to say no.

  • Malware, spyware, or potentially-unwanted programs
  • Phishing or credential harvesting
  • Adult content
  • Gambling and real-money betting
  • Crypto get-rich schemes and token pumps
  • Deceptive fake system alert creatives
  • Anything that breaks the agent vendors' own advertising rules

Every link is scanned before it can serve by an open-source safety scanner, then re-scanned continuously. Swapping a reviewed creative or landing page after approval is the one unforgivable move, and it ends the account.

Request a founding slot

Tell us who you are and what you want developers to know. We reply personally, write the ad line with you, and there is no contract. Slots are limited on purpose.

Opens your email client to sponsors@tipbar.ai. No self-serve at launch. Every founding partner is reviewed by a person.