A UK ad tech company has created a way for people to make free donations to their favourite charities - just by browsing the internet.

Ad tech platform Good-Loop has launched a free-to-use, privacy-powered web plugin called Tabs for Good that automatically lets consumers make free donations to a charity of their choice simply by opening tabs in their web browsers.

Good-Loop’s new initiative is funded through advertising. Every time you open a new tab, small unobtrusive banner ads are displayed at the bottom of the page, with half of the ad revenue going to charity.

Consumers who download the Tabs For Good extension can also track their donations and activity through their own personalised online account.

Account holders can also change the charities they wish to support, allowing them to support as many charities as they want throughout the year. Charity partners include Great Ormond Street, Dogs Trust, WaterAid, Guide Dogs and Cancer Research UK.

Signing up is simple and only takes a couple of minutes, and then the user gets to continue their browsing experience as normal - no special action is required to activate the charitable donations.

The potential impact of consumers downloading the Tabs For Good is significant. Based on the average number of browser tabs consumers open every week, if just 1% of internet users in the UK and US downloaded the browser extension it would generate £30m and $200m (£146.9m) a year in donations to good causes in the UK and US respectively.

Good-Loop CEO and founder Amy Williams said: “Good-Loop has always been fundamentally about making the internet a more positive place and with this latest product innovation, we’re exploring ways we can empower people to do good online in really easy ways.”

Good-Loop, whose purpose-powered ad formats have already raised more than £2M for good causes around the world, launched Tabs For Good as part of their mission to show that advertising can be a positive force for good in society.

Launched in 2016, the global ad tech company rewards consumers who watch ads with free donations to their favourite charities, from cancer care to helping women flee from domestic abuse. The advertiser receives more meaningful brand engagement, while the consumer gets to do good for free. The charity receives 50% of the ad revenue.

Williams added: “The connection between advertisers and consumers is broken. At Good-Loop, we believe we can make advertising good for everyone. For advertisers, who get more brand recognition and engagement, for publishers, who get a fair rate, for users, who get a more positive online experience, and for charities, who get the money they need to change people’s lives forever.”