AI-powered search engine Perplexity says it’ll start experimenting with advertisements on its platform beginning this week.
Adverts will seem within the U.S. to start out, formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions.” (E.g., “How can I use LinkedIn to enhance my job search?”) Paid media will likely be positioned to the facet of solutions, and labeled as “sponsored.”
Manufacturers and company companions taking part in Perplexity’s advert program embody Certainly, Entire Meals, Common McCann, and PMG.
“Ad programs like this help us generate revenue to share with our publisher partners,” Perplexity writes in a put up on its weblog. “Experience has taught us that subscriptions alone do not generate enough revenue to create a sustainable revenue-sharing program. [A]dvertising is the best way to ensure a steady and scalable revenue stream.”
Perplexity asserts that solutions to “sponsored questions” will nonetheless be generated by its AI — not written or edited by the manufacturers sponsoring the questions. Advertisers additionally received’t get entry to customers’ private data, the corporate says.
“We intentionally chose these formats because it integrates advertising in a way that still protects the utility, accuracy, and objectivity of answers,” the weblog put up reads. “These ads will not change our commitment to maintaining a trusted service that provides you with direct, unbiased answers to your questions.”
Perplexity’s embrace of advertisements stands in distinction to OpenAI’s determination to not launch its AI-powered search device, ChatGPT Search, with advertisements. However rival Google has equally piloted advertisements in its AI search expertise, AI Overviews — lately bringing advertisements to cellular within the U.S. for sure queries.
Perplexity is mentioned to be advertising and marketing its advert merchandise as a premium various to Google’s, emphasizing its platform’s skill to achieve educated, high-income customers. However some analysts have expressed issues concerning the scale, attain, and focusing on capabilities of advertisements on Perplexity.
Illustrating the problem of incorporating advertisements into AI-generated content material, Microsoft solely briefly explored placing advertisements within the responses given by its chatbot on Bing. It quietly withdrew the sponsored outcomes after a couple of weeks.
Perplexity’s plagiarism accusations are one other potential advertiser deterrent. Information Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Submit have sued Perplexity over what they describe as a “content kleptocracy.” Many different information websites have proven proof that Perplexity intently replicates their content material — simply final month, The New York Occasions despatched the startup a stop and desist.
Perplexity, which lately mentioned it’s serving 100 million search queries per week, claims it has made adjustments to how its platform cites sources and continues to increase its revenue-sharing program for publishers. However the firm has additionally argued that publishers wished its expertise “didn’t exist” and would like that “publicly reported facts are owned by corporations.”
There’s stress on Perplexity to ramp up monetization. The corporate is reportedly within the closing levels of elevating $500 million in funding at a $9 billion valuation, however has just one income stream: its premium subscription service, Perplexity Professional, which provides further options for $20 per 30 days or $200 per yr.
