Perplexity AI is set to begin revenue-sharing from advertisements with news organizations, a strategy aimed at addressing concerns over allegations of content theft and unethical data scraping that have surfaced against the startup.
Dmitry Shevelenko, the company’s business lead, shared with TechCrunch that the initiative had been under consideration since January, prior to the publication of plagiarism claims by publishers. According to Shevelenko, supporting publishers is crucial for Perplexity to maintain its provision of factual responses to inquiries, as this relies on journalists’ ongoing coverage of new developments.
“Our goal is to be in harmony with publishers,” Shevelenko explained. “We aim to contribute towards ensuring a thriving ecosystem with varied business practices and revenue options, rather than undermining or competing with publishers.”
With changes in search behaviors prompted by generative AI advancements, publishers are on the lookout for innovative monetization methods.
Initial publishing partners collaborating with Perplexity are Automattic, Der Spiegel, Entrepreneur, Fortune, The Texas Tribune, and TIME. These multi-year agreements will provide them access to Perplexity’s APIs and developer support for building tailored answer engines on their sites, alongside Enterprise Pro access for all employees, featuring advanced data privacy and security enhancements.
Perplexity is yet to introduce ads on its platform, expecting to do so in the coming months. Shevelenko mentioned partnerships with leading brands across consumer and B2B sectors. Thus, Perplexity will distribute advertising revenue with publishers whose work assists in answering user inquiries.
While specifics of the revenue-sharing agreement were not disclosed, Shevelenko hinted at substantial “double-digit” percentages.
Despite their criticism of how OpenAI utilizes their content for training AI models, several media entities like The Atlantic, News Corp, The Financial Times, DotDash Meredith, Axel Springer, and Vox Media have entered into agreements with OpenAI recently.
Michael Frazier, VP of data and operations at Entrepreneur Media, emphasized to TechCrunch the importance of aligning with user preferences, influenced by his experiences with social media and Google Search. He mentioned Entrepreneur’s ongoing project to craft a more interactive engagement tool with the assistance of Perplexity’s APIs.
Perplexity collaborates with ScalePost.ai to facilitate publisher-AI company partnerships and offers AI analytics to publishers regarding content citation.
Frazier looks forward to deeper insights into user behavior, aiming to enhance reader support. Though acknowledging the concern over AI-generated inaccuracies, he believes Perplexity is addressing these issues appropriately.
Perplexity reassured that no preferential treatment will be given in search queries, a stance similar to OpenAI’s assurance to its partners. Shevelenko clarified that the paramount benefit of the program doesn’t lie in directing traffic to publishers but in sharing ad revenue and providing access to Perplexity’s technical resources.
As the trend of collaborations with AI entities gathers momentum, not all publishers are following suit without resistance. Notable lawsuits against OpenAI by The New York Times, Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Intercept have been filed for allegedly exploiting copyrighted material without proper acknowledgment.
Recently, Condé Nast issued a cease and desist to Perplexity, as reported by The Information, demanding the halt of their content’s usage in search results. This was spurred by a Wired investigation that highlighted Perplexity’s extraction of content against publishers’ requests.
Similarly, Forbes accused Perplexity of plagiarizing an article in its Perplexity Pages feature but received an invitation instead of compliance to join the publisher program.
“Our doors are open for partnership,” said Shevelenko, expressing enthusiasm for collaboration.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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