AI search company, Perplexity has announced plans to launch an advertising platform to share revenue with content publishers scheduled to begin by the end of September. Prominent outlets such as Fortune, Time, and The Texas Tribune will be the first to join the initiative.

According to Perplexity,  “To further support the vital work of media organizations and online creators, we need to ensure publishers can thrive as Perplexity grows. That’s why we’re excited to announce the Perplexity Publishers Program and our first batch of partners: TIME, Der Spiegel, Fortune, Entrepreneur, The Texas Tribune, and WordPress.com.”

Addressing publisher concerns

This development comes amidst scrutiny and criticism from major publishers including Forbes and Wired for allegedly scraping content without permission. In June, Forbes reported that its exclusive content was used within Perplexity AI’s tool and distributed to various platforms such as a podcast and YouTube, without proper attribution to the organization. 

Also, Wired discovered that Perplexity’s IP address had accessed its sites over 800 times in three months, raising concerns about unauthorized data scraping.

The revenue-sharing plan

Tagged  “Perplexity Publishers’ Program,” this initiative will offer a "meaningful double-digit percentage" of ad earnings with publishers whose content is used by the search engine. Therefore, if multiple articles from a single publisher are referenced in an answer, the publisher will receive multiple revenue shares. 

According to CNBC, Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity's Chief Business Officer explained that the program involves a fixed revenue percentage per article cited, potentially increasing earnings if multiple articles from the same publisher are used.

Shevelenko detailed that the revenue-sharing model would offer a flat percentage of earnings for each article cited. “If three articles from one publisher are used in a single response, they will receive revenue for each one,” Shevelenko explained.

Details on Perplexity’s other plans 

In addition to financial compensation, Perplexity will provide API credits and collaborate with ScalePost.ai to offer publishers detailed analytics on how their content is cited. "Our goal is to not only share revenue but also offer API credits and analytics for deeper insights," Shevelenko stated. This transparency is intended to build trust and ensure fair dealings with content providers.

Also, the company will provide an “Enterprise Pro” version that comes with data privacy and security features to support their partners and help with their research needs. This would come at a cost for one year. 

Comparing industry practices

Perplexity’s approach could set a new precedent by offering revenue sharing. In June, The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) sued OpenAI and Microsoft for alleged copyright violations. 

However, some media organizations are opting to collaborate with AI companies, as seen in recent partnerships between OpenAI and major publishers such as The Atlantic as it tests its new search AI prototype “SearchGPT.”