Perplexity has launched a subscription program that it
claims will generate revenue for publishers.
The new offering, Comet Plus, apparently is an enhancement of the Comet browser announced by Perplexity last month. It will allow users to
access premium content from publishers and journalists, according to a Perplexity blog post published on Monday.
In turn, Comet Plus will transform how publishers are compensated, it
goes on. “As users demand a better internet in the age of AI, it’s time for a business model to ensure that publishers and journalists benefit from their contributions to a better
internet,” it states.
The cost will be $5 for a standalone subscription. Subscribers to Pro and Max will get Comet Plus as part of their memberships, the blog
post says.
The post continues that “we’re distributing all of that revenue to participating publishers, minus a small portion for Perplexity’s compute
costs.
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It adds, “Comet Plus is the first compensation model that allocates revenue to our partners based on three types of internet traffic: human visits, search citations, and agent
actions.” Then it states, “Publishers should settle for nothing less.”
That is true. This is occurring as Perplexity faces continuing legal challenges and threats from
publishers. Last week, a federal judge declined to throw out a suit filed against the firm by Dow Jones last year.
However, Perplexity has also formed several content partnerships with
publishers.
Perplexity has allocated $42.6 million to provide publishers with a share of the revenue from AI searches, Bloomberg reports.
While not
specifying that sum, the blog post notes that the revenue allocation “recognizes the reality that users now choose how they want to consume information: browsing manually, asking for
AI-generated answers, or deploying agents for complex tasks. Publishers deserve compensation that matches this new reality.”