What Publishers Should Watch for in AI Deals and Contracts
Sharing some guidance and first hand experiences.
I know we’ve told you a few times about how to use AI for fun and profit, as a publisher (or media operator, if you prefer). But (and I don’t say this lightly), AI promises to be as big a sea-change to our way of working as was the introduction of the Internet and the Web (1.0, 2.0, 3.0), search, social media, and the rest of it.
So, forgive me if it feels like I’m harping, but, well, there is a lot to explore -- such as tips for deal-making with AI firms.
First, as usual, some news, including a newly recurring AI news section. And if you’re interested in a rundown of AI tools for publishers, LMK.
– Dorian Benkoil, Editor
News And Verts
A Couple of Invites (The Verts)
Our member, Subscription Insider, has a limited number of complimentary tickets to the Subscription Show 2024, Oct. 24-25 in New York, thanks to a sponsor. Tell them we sent you ;).
And our friends at Collingwood are hosting a breakfast roundtable in NY on Oct. 17 to discuss insights from their annual Media Acquisition Report. Email me back with “Collingwood” in the subject line, your details in the message, and I’ll forward. Seating is limited.
No Programmatic Here, Says URL Media
URL Media says they have 36 media companies run by “black and brown” people around the U.S. that reach 25 million people. But URL does not earn a penny from programmatic – a.k.a. automated advertising. “We haven’t accepted one programmatic ad across our network,” Melanie H. Figueiredo, VP for sales, told me at the ONA conference in Atlanta. The ad prices are low, she said. Some of their more sophisticated outlets might take such ads, but as a network, nope. Instead, they focus on old-fashioned, tailored deals, event sponsorships, and the like.
Another Independent Newsletter: Taylor Lorenz Leaves The Washington Post (AP)
Tech reporter Taylor Lorenz is leaving The Washington Post to join the ranks of newsletter solo creators. "User Mag," on Substack, will focus on technology’s role in shaping society. Welcome, Taylor, to the world of being publisher of vertical media. We’ll ask questions later.
Substack Wants Expansion Beyond ‘Just’ Newsletters (Semafor)
Substack is expanding beyond newsletters, aiming to become a go-to platform for all creators. While independent news is still its mainstay, the platform is now attracting influencers, podcasters, and more by claiming to offer a more stable income stream than YouTube or brand deals. Over the last year, Substack says it as gained over a million paid subscribers for its publications. Substack’s also touting that creators can keep their subscriber lists. We have Verts who’ve used Substack for their teams, and more than one who’s has left after growing bigger in order to gain more control. One major political newsletter publisher told me months ago that they’d avoided Substack, asking why they’d go to a platform on which it can be hard to place ads and diversify revenue.
Diversifying, and Doubling, Revenue (PressGazette)
The Independent is set to double its profit and revenue since 2019. This notable growth is driven by five key growth areas: U.S. expansion, e-commerce, video (Independent TV), reader revenues, and AI. CEO Christian Broughton shared that their revenue is projected to hit £53.2m in 2024, with the U.S. alone accounting for 23% of total revenue.
LiveIntent Bought by Zeta Global (WSJ)
The platform used by publishers and others to put ads in email and on Web pages -- and from which LiveIntent got first-party data -- is becoming part of Zeta Global, a marketing technology company, for $250 million in cash and stock. Translation: First-party data = $$.
X Promising Money to Creators (The Verge)
X is offering to pay creators (including publishers) who get strong engagement from the platform’s premium users. “We don’t know yet if the new approach will actually lead to higher payouts for creators,” says The Verge. Indeed.
Dave Morgan is CEO of Simulmedia, Again (X)
Just cuz he’s an outsized presence – and has been helpful to some of us – we’re noting here that, after some high-profile gallivanting, he’s back running the (C)TV measurement company he founded.
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In his book “Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World”, Brendan Kane shares strategies for grabbing attention in an oversaturated digital landscape. He explains how to master "hook points," a way publishers can effectively engage audiences and amplify their message in just seconds. It’s on the Amazon “Blogging” bestselling list – if you’re interested, you can order it here.
AI for Publishers
Our new recurring section about AI for media operators.
Adobe’s Proposed Solution for AI Using Content (The Verge)
Adobe launched a Content Authenticity web app that lets creators add "do not train" tags onto their work to lock in their attribution on images, videos, and audio. Adobe says it is trying to get the major AI companies to honor the tags. (We note another solution, HTML tagging, below.)
Hearst Does Deal with OpenAI Does(Axios)
After partnering with large publishing houses (such as CondéNast), the AI company has a deal with Hearst. OpenAI gains access to content from over 40 local newspapers and 20 magazines like Esquire and Cosmopolitan to inform ChatGPT’s responses going forward. On another front, OpenAI says they won’t share ad revenue from their SearchGPT product with publishers whose content it surfaces -- unlike Perplexity (more below). And Apple is said to be in talks with Condé, NBC and IAC on AI.
WordPress “Belongs to Me” (The Verge)
WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg says he owns the .org that sits at the center of Web publishing and is the backbone publishing system for a lot of Verts and other publishers. He’s in a fight over naming and revenue issues with hosting company WP Engine, which is now blocked from WordPress.org servers.
Meta’s Launches AI Video-from-Text Tool (The Verge)
Meta has rolled out Movie Gen, an AI-powered tool that creates “high-quality” videos from text prompts. It also has editing features that can alter footage and add AI-generated sound. Perhaps it’s their answer to OpenAI's Sora.
Quote of the Moment
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.” - C.S. Lewis.
Coming below …
Perplexity Wants a Piece of the Publisher Action
The Managerial Aspect: A Few Pieces Of Guidance
Doing AI Deals: What To Watch Out For
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Perplexity Wants a Piece of the Publisher Action
We were intrigued to see a Perplexity booth at the recent Online News Association (ONA) conference in Atlanta.
One of the folks from the “answer engine” (we say search-cum-AI engine) told Dorian they’re offering publishers compensation for any of their content that Perplexity monetizes off of. “We’re doing the thing Google never did: paying publishers who show up in search,” she said. Plus, Perplexity gives the publisher access to the engine’s API, and access to their “pro” level. Paying them how much? “That’s under NDA,” she said. Advertising Week in New York, Perplexity’s Andrew Beck says they're launching advertising "within the next month." He says they’re testing a few units, and that the ads will not change user experience of valid, unbiased info.
Other solutions at the ONA conference were offering AI for copy editing or reformatting media (text to audio, etc.). One at Advertising Week asking for angel funding said they could do it all, and spit it out in different formats.
Another company was offering SEO optimization for $12,000 - $36,000 per year, depending on the publisher’s size. That’s still a thing, I guess.
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The Managerial Aspect of AI
I was disheartened but not shocked to hear of resistance to AI from some editorial quarters, in a way that reminded me of the resistance to going digital years ago. So: how do we address the challenge? By showing that it’s here, it’s for you to use, and it helps you do more work, better.
And, let’s be honest: Yeah (as a researcher I spoke to said), AI will eliminate some jobs. So, the job of editorial people is to figure out how to work with the tools to improve their work and make themselves (yourself) more valuable. Media operators, it’s to help them do so.
Doing AI Deals: What to Watch For
A number of our discussions recently have centered around how – and whether – to make deals with AI companies. Our pubs, as I’ve mentioned, are making different decisions about whether to A) allow AI bots to ingest their stuff and B) under what terms.
A few pieces of guidance have come up in recent discussions
… and doing them right might help avoid lawsuits.
“Blocking” (a.k.a. using robots.txt) is not a legal framework. In other words, you can in your code say you don’t want the AI engines to scan, ingest, and use your content.You can try to take action if they do – but you can’t really prevent it. At least not if your material is on the open web. Plus, while the upstanding (a.k.a. big and reputable) AI firms will honor your bot block, others may not. And fighting any of them is a rear-guard action. (Closing the barn door after the horse is gone… you get it.)
Display Rather than Scraping is (or can be) The Thing. Training a large language model (LLM) is one thing. Displaying the results is another. If and when you do a contract with an AI company that wants your content,