  Algorithms used by organizations increasingly wield power in society as they
decide the allocation of key resources and basic goods. In order to promote
fairer, juster, and more transparent uses of such decision-making power,
explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) aims to provide insights into the
logic of algorithmic decision-making. Despite much research on the topic,
consumer-facing applications of XAI remain rare. A central reason may be that a
viable platform-based monetization strategy for this new technology has yet to
be found. We introduce and describe a novel monetization strategy for fusing
algorithmic explanations with programmatic advertising via an explanation
platform. We claim the explanation platform represents a new,
socially-impactful, and profitable form of human-algorithm interaction and
estimate its potential for revenue generation in the high-risk domains of
finance, hiring, and education. We then consider possible undesirable and
unintended effects of monetizing XAI and simulate these scenarios using
real-world credit lending data. Ultimately, we argue that monetizing XAI may be
a double-edged sword: while monetization may incentivize industry adoption of
XAI in a variety of consumer applications, it may also conflict with the
original legal and ethical justifications for developing XAI. We conclude by
discussing whether there may be ways to responsibly and democratically harness
the potential of monetized XAI to provide greater consumer access to
algorithmic explanations.
