AI search provider Perplexity has introduced a new program to share advertising revenue with content publishers following accusations of plagiarism. The “Publishers’ Program” involves collaboration with notable publications like Time, Der Spiegel, Fortune, Entrepreneur, The Texas Tribune, and Automattic’s WordPress.com.
Participating publishers will receive a portion of advertising revenue whenever their content is utilized to answer user queries. Additionally, they will have access to Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro tier, advanced developer tools, and Scalepost.ai insights—a startup that connects AI firms with content providers.
Revenue Sharing Framework
Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, says that participating publishers will receive a “double-digit percentage” share of the advertising revenue over multiple years, with early partners enjoying more favorable terms. Payments are made per article used in chat responses, and the initiative also offers cash advances as Perplexity refines its ad model. These advances differ from OpenAI’s content licensing fees.
Publisher Partnerships
Early partners in Perplexity’s program include Automattic, Der Spiegel, Entrepreneur, Fortune, The Texas Tribune, and TIME. These partners will integrate Perplexity’s APIs to develop custom answers on their platforms and will benefit from Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro with enhanced data privacy and security features.
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg told The Verge that the revenue-sharing conditions surpass Google’s current model, which does not offer such sharing. Although initial revenue amounts may be small given Perplexity’s existing scale, Mullenweg expressed optimism about potential growth.
Perplexity plans to begin displaying ads in the near future, featuring diverse brands from various consumer and B2B sectors. Revenue from these ads will be shared with content publishers whose work is used.
Background and Legal Issues
The initiative comes after a Forbes editor found that Perplexity’s Pages feature had copied content from Forbes. Wired’s investigation also revealed that Perplexity’s AI was paraphrasing their articles inaccurately with poor attribution. Facing potential legal challenges from Forbes, Perplexity claims it began developing this compensation program earlier this year, drawing inspiration from X’s ad revenue-sharing model.
Shevelenko stated that while the initiative was originally planned to coincide with the controversy, it was postponed. He emphasized that the company wants to avoid negative publicity and believes that plagiarism accusations are harmful to its brand image and unfair.
Industry Context and Publisher Feedback
Recently, several media organizations like The Atlantic, News Corp, The Financial Times, DotDash Meredith, Axel Springer, and Vox Media have entered into licensing deals with OpenAI. Despite criticism, these deals reflect a growing trend of collaboration with AI companies.
Nonetheless, not all publishers are on board. The New York Times, Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Intercept have initiated lawsuits against OpenAI for allegedly using their work without proper credit. Condé Nast has also issued a cease-and-desist order to Perplexity, demanding cessation of content use in search results. Similar demands came from Forbes after accusing Perplexity of content plagiarism. Despite these legal threats, Perplexity remains open to collaboration with these publishers.
Michael Frazier of Entrepreneur Media emphasized the importance of reaching users in their preferred formats to Techcrunch. The partnership with Perplexity’s tools aims to enhance interactive engagement with Entrepreneur’s content.
Perplexity’s collaboration with ScalePost.ai will offer publishers analytical insights, assisting them in understanding user behavior and preferences.
Addressing concerns about AI-generated inaccuracies, Frazier expressed confidence in Perplexity’s efforts to mitigate such risks. Perplexity assured that publishers in its program would not receive preferential treatment in search results, mirroring OpenAI’s promise to its partners.
Rather than focusing solely on click-through rates, Perplexity’s program emphasizes the value of ad revenue sharing and access to its APIs and Pro subscription.
Last Updated on November 7, 2024 3:28 pm CET
