Perplexity Launches Revenue Sharing Program to Mend Ties With Media Outlets
AI search startup Perplexity introduces a revenue sharing program with major publishers like Time and Fortune, offering ad revenue when their content appears in search results. The initiative follows recent plagiarism accusations and scraping allegations from publications like Forbes and Wired.
Perplexity, a popular AI search startup, launches a new revenue sharing agreement with major media brands including Fortune, Der Spiegel, and Time. The Perplexity Publishers Program distributes a portion of ad revenue to media outlets whenever their content appears alongside advertisements that the company plans to introduce in the coming months. This move represents a significant step toward compensating publishers for their role in training and informing the startup's AI-generated answers.
The announcement arrives after a period of intense scrutiny regarding how the startup credits and uses journalistic content. Forbes accuses Perplexity of failing to provide proper citations for an investigative article, while Wired alleges the company scrapes content from news sites using alternative IP addresses. Although Perplexity states that an Amazon investigation into the scraping claims clears it of any wrongdoing, the negative publicity causes significant friction with the media industry.
In response to the backlash, Perplexity updates its platform to display more prominent citations, but these changes do little to stop the criticism from reporters and media companies. Chief business officer Dmitry Shevelenko reveals that several publishers actually drop out of the partnership program due to internal staff revolts following the negative reports. Despite these setbacks, the company moves forward with its second wave of partners to build a more sustainable relationship with the publishing world.