  The recent advances of web-based cryptomining libraries along with the
whopping market value of cryptocoins have convinced an increasing number of
publishers to switch to web mining as a source of monetization for their
websites. The conditions could not be better nowadays: the inevitable arms race
between adblockers and advertisers is at its peak with publishers caught in the
crossfire. But, can cryptomining be the next primary monetization model in the
post advertising era of free Internet? In this paper, we respond to this exact
question. In particular, we compare the profitability of cryptomining and
advertising to assess the most advantageous option for a content provider. In
addition, we measure the costs imposed to the user in each case with regards to
power consumption, resources utilization, network traffic, device temperature
and user experience. Our results show that cryptomining can surpass the
profitability of advertising under specific circumstances, however users need
to sustain a significant cost on their devices.
