AI ENTERTAINMENT
Publishers are done being the free snack
People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith) has signed a new AI-licensing deal with Microsoft, announced during parent company IAC’s Q3 earnings.
This follows its earlier agreement with OpenAI.
Under the deal, People Inc. will join Microsoft’s new publisher marketplace, where AI tools can pay publishers to use their content on a pay-per-use basis.
Microsoft’s Copilot will be the first buyer. CEO Neil Vogel said the move shows that quality content still has strong value in AI development.
The company also revealed that Google Search now drives far less traffic to its sites, falling from 54% two years ago to 24% last quarter.
Vogel noted that the Microsoft deal works differently from its OpenAI agreement, which he described as more “all-you-can-eat.”
He didn’t share financial details but said the priority is ensuring their work is “respected and paid for.”
People Inc. has been openly critical of AI companies using publisher content without permission or compensation.
Vogel has specifically criticised Google for using the same web-crawling bot for both search and AI features, a system publishers can’t block without losing traffic.
To regain leverage, People Inc. has used Cloudflare technology to block other AI crawlers.
At a glance:
People Inc. joins Microsoft’s pay-per-use marketplace for AI content.
Google Search share of traffic dropped from 54% → 24% in two years.
Cloudflare tech helped push AI companies into new content-licensing talks.
Pay per Play
Vogel said this strategy has “brought almost everyone to the table,” with more licensing deals expected.
Financially, People Inc.’s digital revenue rose 9% to $269M last quarter, helped by strong growth in performance marketing and licensing.
The company also acquired food-focused publisher and influencer network Feedfeed.
Toss a coin to your PUBLISHER. - MG