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Google is testing a programme that will pay publishers when their content “significantly contributes” to AI-generated responses across its chatbot Gemini, AI Overviews and AI mode, Digiday Media reported, citing multiple industry sources.
The programme is embedded in Google Search Console, a free tool that website owners use to monitor how their sites appear in search results and track search traffic.
According to Digiday—which charts how industries like media, marketing, fashion, beauty and retail are moving from analog to digital—once a publisher joins the “AI contribution pilot,” they receive an extra AI earnings widget via their Search Console dashboard. It displays a monthly earnings number (with some history).
Digiday reported that there is no other detailed information yet on how payouts are calculated currently but that payments are based more on value than raw usage.
That means Google only pays when it judges that a piece of content has meaningfully contributed to an AI-generated response, Digiday reported, adding that publishers are free to opt out at any time.
The website reported that the tech giant, which has steered clear of the large lump-sum licensing deals struck between other AI rivals like OpenAI and major news publishers, has been testing the programme quietly but confirmed the scheme is an early-stage learning pilot to test how best to reward high-quality content.
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According to Digiday, Google pointed back to a June blog post, noting that it was testing a new model for working with websites whose content helps keep its generative AI answers fresh and accurate.
Dozens of publishers have been approached by Google for the AI contribution pilot, the website reported, though the programme has been more appealing to small and mid-sized, rather than large publishers and has widened far beyond news publishers. Digiday said it could not get final confirmation of the number.
Screenshots from Google Search Console show an “AI contribution” panel that appears once a publisher opts into the programme, according to Digiday. The interface lists the programme name and a monthly payout figure.
“It’s quite black box,” as one executive with knowledge of the matter told Digiday.
Given the early stage of the programme, Google is likely still figuring out how to determine the value each piece of content has for its AI-generated responses, and that is a complicated equation no one in the industry has yet figured out.
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Two publisher executives who are part of the pilot but requested anonymity to speak freely conceded that while the information available so far is basic, it is far better to be inside Google’s AI licensing tent, testing direct payments and data-sharing, than standing on the sidelines hoping the old referral economics return.
“Do I wish they were more transparent? Definitely,” said one publisher executive who is in the programme. “But I’m hopeful that the fact that they’re setting a precedent for exploring paying publishers directly for content through this is meaningful,” they added.
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