Google has found a new way of making money online with a new service called Contributor that lets US web surfers pay a monthly subscription in order to avoid seeing ads.

Users can choose to donate between $1 and $3 each month in order to rid all Google-served ads on participating websites that will instead be replaced with a thank you message or pixel pattern.

Initial partners that have signed up include Mashable, The Onion, Urban Dictionary and Imgur. There is already a waiting list to take part.

“The more you contribute, the more you support the websites you visit,” said Google.

The donations will only remove Google-served ads – any third-party advertising on the select sites will still be shown.

Last month Susan Wojcicki, chief executive of YouTube announced that the video platform was exploring new subscription models for consumers who “don’t want to see ads”.