People Inc. Partners With Microsoft Amid Google Traffic Drop

marketplace as the publisher reports a sharp decline in Google Search traffic.

TAGS: People Inc, Microsoft, Artificial Intelligence, IAC, Digital Publishing

CONTEUDO:

People Inc. has secured a new artificial intelligence licensing agreement with Microsoft, marking a strategic pivot as the media giant faces a significant decline in referral traffic from Google. The publisher, formerly known as Dotdash Meredith, disclosed the partnership during the third-quarter earnings call of its parent company, IAC.

Under the terms of the deal, People Inc. will serve as a launch partner for Microsoft’s upcoming publisher content marketplace. This arrangement follows a previous agreement established with OpenAI last year. While the OpenAI contract functioned similarly to an “all-you-can-eat” model, CEO Neil Vogel described the Microsoft marketplace as an “a la carte” system, functioning as a pay-per-use environment where AI developers directly compensate publishers for specific content usage.

Shifting Traffic and Strategic Licensing

The announcement coincides with a stark revelation regarding the publisher’s reliance on search engines. For the first time, People Inc. shared data indicating that Google Search now accounts for 24% of its traffic, a sharp drop from the 54% share it held just two years ago. The company attributed this decline largely to the impact of Google’s AI Overviews.

Vogel emphasized that the company’s priority is ensuring its journalistic work is “respected and paid for,” regardless of the specific business model. Microsoft’s Copilot will be the first entity to utilize the new marketplace. “It’s a very strong endorsement of us to be in the room with them and a very strong endorsement of the publishing marketplace and the value of content to make AI that is of high value,” Vogel stated.

Leveraging Technology to Force Negotiations

People Inc. has been vocal about its opposition to AI companies scraping content without compensation. Vogel has previously labeled Google a “bad actor” for using a single bot to crawl sites for both traditional search and AI training, a setup that prevents publishers from blocking AI ingestion without sacrificing essential search visibility.

To counter this, the company has utilized tools from infrastructure provider Cloudflare to block unauthorized AI crawlers. According to Vogel, this strategy has been “very effective” in compelling technology firms to negotiate content deals. He noted that the company’s progress in securing partnerships accelerated significantly after implementing these blocks, with additional agreements expected in the future.

Financial Performance

Despite the volatility in search traffic, IAC reported positive financial results for the publisher:

• Digital revenue for People Inc. rose 9% to $269 million this quarter.
• Performance marketing revenue saw a 38% increase.
• Licensing revenue grew by 24%.
• The company also finalized the acquisition of Feedfeed, a network focused on food media and influencers.