From Ars Technica · · 2m
Google's AI payment plan pays publishers almost nothing
Google admits 100 publishers to a pilot program paying for content in AI answers, but the amounts are so small that larger publishers are refusing to join.
In brief
Google admits 100 publishers to a pilot program paying for content in AI answers, but the amounts are so small that larger publishers are refusing to join. Google's pilot program paying publishers for content in AI-powered search results offers payments so small that major publishers are declining to participate…
Google shifts to AI search
Google's move toward AI-powered search has disrupted how the search engine generates web traffic, angering publishers large and small. The company is now experimenting with paying publishers when their content appears in AI answers.
One hundred publishers in pilot
Google has admitted about one hundred publishers to an AI contribution pilot program. Websites can earn payments when their content materially contributes to Gemini-powered search results like an AI Overview.
Payments are minuscule
Publishers in the program report that Google's AI payments are minuscule, equaling roughly one-tenth of one percent of their advertising revenue. Several larger publishers have reportedly declined to participate, hoping to force Google to offer more generous terms.
Earnings vary widely
One early publisher is on track to earn more than one million dollars per year. A more recent addition has earned fifty thousand to sixty thousand dollars. Smaller sites are seeing less than one thousand dollars over several months.
Niche topics pay better
Publishers agree that certain topics with strong niche interest, including anime and gaming, earn more. However, tracking payments month to month in the search console is often confusing, and it is unclear what counts as a meaningful contribution to an AI answer.
Publishers fight back
A coalition of book publishers has sued over Google's alleged use of copyrighted content in AI training. Penske Media, which operates Variety and Rolling Stone, has sued Google over lost traffic, saying the company's decision to tie AI scraping to standard web indexing is unfair.
Regulators step in
The UK government ordered Google to provide an AI opt-out for publishers that would not penalize them in organic search results. The European Commission is running an antitrust probe to determine if Google is fairly compensating publishers for using their content in AI answers.
The bottom line
Google's pilot program paying publishers for content in AI-powered search results offers payments so small that major publishers are declining to participate, raising questions about whether the company can build sustainable relationships with news sites.
