Yup, I’d pay if there was a nice micro payment option. I’d put $X into my browser each month and then websites can get a small payment based on what I read. Ask me the first time to authorize payments for a site in a certain range, and then ask again if you need more than the for some content.
That is much more preferable to ads or a subscription. Until that happens, my ad blocker is staying on and I’m avoiding paywalls.