A New Era of AI Collaboration
People Inc., one of the largest media publishers in the United States, has announced a new artificial intelligence licensing partnership with Microsoft. The agreement, revealed during parent company IAC’s third-quarter earnings call, positions People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith) as a launch partner in Microsoft’s new publisher content marketplace.
This marks the publisher’s second AI-related partnership, following an earlier agreement with OpenAI in 2023.
How the Deal Works
According to People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel, the new marketplace is designed as “essentially a pay-per-use market where AI players directly can compensate publishers for use of their content on, sort of like an ‘a la carte’ basis.”
Vogel commended Microsoft’s approach, saying the company is “committed to paying for content to support its AI efforts.” He added that Microsoft’s Copilot would serve as the first buyer for the 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 said.
Google Traffic Decline Raises Industry Concerns
While the Microsoft partnership signals progress, People Inc. also disclosed troubling figures about its Google search traffic. Two years ago, Google accounted for 54% of People Inc.’s audience traffic; today, that number has dropped to 24%, largely due to Google’s new AI Overviews feature.
The company shared these metrics with investors for the first time, highlighting the growing concern among publishers that AI-driven search results are diverting web traffic away from their original sources.
Comparing the Microsoft and OpenAI Deals
Vogel explained that the Microsoft agreement differs from the earlier OpenAI deal, describing the OpenAI model as an “all-you-can-eat” approach to content use. Still, he emphasized that People Inc. is pleased with both arrangements, provided its work remains “respected and paid for.”
Although financial terms were not disclosed, the move underscores a broader shift among media companies toward formalizing relationships with AI developers rather than being exploited by them.
Pushing Back Against Unpaid AI Use
People Inc. has been a vocal critic of how AI firms have used publisher content to train large language models without compensation. Vogel recently accused Google of being a “bad actor,” alleging that it uses the same bot to scrape websites for both traditional search results and AI outputs—without allowing publishers to block the crawler.
In contrast, People Inc. now uses technology from Cloudflare, a leading web infrastructure provider, to block unauthorized AI crawlers. This strategic move, Vogel said, has effectively pushed AI firms to negotiate formal content licensing deals.
“Blocking AI crawlers has been very effective and brought almost everyone to the table,” Vogel told investors, hinting that more deals could follow soon.
Strong Financial Performance and Strategic Expansion
Despite the drop in search traffic, IAC reported that People Inc. achieved a 9% increase in digital revenue, reaching $269 million for the quarter. Performance marketing and licensing contributed significantly, with growth rates of 38% and 24%, respectively.
Additionally, People Inc. expanded its portfolio by acquiring Feedfeed, a food-focused media publisher and influencer network.
A Turning Point for Media and AI
People Inc.’s collaboration with Microsoft may serve as a blueprint for how publishers can reclaim value from the AI revolution. By insisting on fair compensation and leveraging technology to protect their content, companies like People Inc. are helping define what ethical AI content licensing could look like in the future.
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