Perplexity Expands Publisher Partnerships with 15 New Media Partners

• 15 New Media Partners Join Perplexity’s Publisher Program

  Perplexity expands publisher partnerships with 15 new media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Adweek, Mexico News Daily, The Independent, Blavity, DPReview, Gear Patrol, PRISA Media, Minkabu Infonoid, and NewsPicks, among others. These partnerships represent the company’s first collaborations with media entities from regions like Japan, Spain, Latin America, and the UK, significantly broadening its content diversity. The new partners join earlier collaborators such as TIME, Fortune, and Der Spiegel.

• Revenue Sharing, Metrics, and New Tools for Publishers

  Publishers participating in Perplexity’s program will receive a share of the advertising revenue when their content appears on the platform. Additionally, Perplexity provides access to its proprietary API and supports the development of customized features. Partners also gain free access to Perplexity Enterprise Pro for an entire year, benefiting from tools like data analytics to track content performance and user engagement. This arrangement aims to position Perplexity as a partner rather than a competitor to news outlets.

• Lack of Transparency with Internal Staff

  Internal discontent has emerged within some media organizations. LA Times and Adweek employees reportedly were not informed about the partnerships in advance, leaving some staff confused about the nature and scope of the agreements. An LA Times employee stated that “nobody seems to have enough information to be positive or negative about it.” This lack of internal communication raises questions about transparency and editorial autonomy.

• Legal Scrutiny from Major Publishers

  Despite the expansion, Perplexity faces growing legal challenges from prominent publishers. The New York Times issued a cease-and-desist order to the company in October 2024, demanding that it stop using its content without authorization. Dow Jones and the New York Post filed lawsuits, accusing Perplexity of engaging in a “content kleptocracy” by copying and reusing paywalled material without permission. These legal issues echo earlier complaints from Forbes and Wired, which claimed Perplexity had plagiarized or paraphrased their paywalled articles.

• Accusations of Misuse of Paywalled Content

  Investigations by Copyleaks, a service that detects AI-generated and plagiarized content, found that Perplexity had summarized paywalled content as recently as October 2024. Media outlets like Wired and Forbes criticized Perplexity for paraphrasing and distorting information, leading to potential misinformation. Despite Perplexity’s claims that it credits its sources, numerous reports highlight incorrect or incomplete citations on its platform, further damaging its credibility with media partners.

• Perplexity’s Response and Shift Toward Confidential Deals

  While earlier versions of the publisher agreements revealed terms of “multi-year deals” and “double-digit percentage revenue shares,” Perplexity has now shifted its strategy to avoid disclosing deal specifics. This change is likely an effort to avoid giving competitors a bargaining advantage during negotiations with publishers. CEO Aravind Srinivas and new Head of Publisher Partnerships Jessica Chan (formerly of LinkedIn) are spearheading the expansion. Chan emphasized Perplexity’s commitment to “factual, valuable answers” and highlighted that the new deals span 25 countries across 4 continents.

• Financial and Strategic Expansion

  Perplexity is in the midst of a significant growth phase, with reports indicating it is raising $500 million in new funding at a staggering $9 billion valuation. However, its annual recurring revenue (ARR) is approximately $50 million, raising questions about its valuation. Despite this, Perplexity claims rapid growth in usage, reporting an increase from 2.5 million daily queries in early 2024 to 20 million by year-end. The platform aims to establish itself as a credible alternative to larger competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search.

• Tension Between AI Search Platforms and Traditional Publishers

  Perplexity’s publisher partnerships come amid heightened debate about AI’s role in the distribution of news content. While some media companies see AI as a new revenue opportunity, others view it as a threat to their business models. The shift toward AI-generated content has sparked fears of content duplication, loss of editorial control, and erosion of subscription-based paywalls. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search has adopted a different approach, allowing publishers to manage how their content appears in search results. Perplexity, however, has faced backlash for allegedly taking content without publisher consent, prompting legal action from major media players.

• The Bigger Picture

  The broader implication of Perplexity’s expansion is the potential redefinition of how AI-driven search engines interact with publishers. While Perplexity offers revenue-sharing deals, many publishers remain skeptical of such arrangements. The power dynamic between AI companies and traditional media continues to evolve, with lawsuits, policy debates, and new content-sharing models shaping the future.

Why This Matters:

Perplexity expands publisher partnerships and this signals a strategic shift in the AI-driven search engine landscape. By partnering with diverse media organizations, the company aims to provide users with more factual, localized, and topic-specific content. However, its relationships with publishers remain fragile due to ongoing legal disputes and accusations of content misuse. If successful, this initiative could shape how AI search engines interact with the broader publishing ecosystem, setting a precedent for how media outlets can monetize their content through partnerships with AI-driven platforms.