Perplexity sets 42.5M publisher pool with 80/20 split for Comet Plus

Perplexity rolled out a comprehensive revenue-sharing plan for publishers tied to its new Comet Plus subscription, signaling a bold attempt to monetize AI-assisted search while addressing mounting criticism and legal pressure from the media industry. The company has earmarked a 42.5 million pool to be distributed to participating publishers, funded by revenue from Comet Plus, a five-dollar-a-month premium tier for its agentic browser. Under the plan, publishers would receive 80% of Comet Plus revenue, with Perplexity retaining 20% to cover compute and related costs. The move comes as Perplexity seeks to diversify its revenue model and blunt lawsuits and cease-and-desist actions over the use of news content in AI responses.

The program operates on several revenue streams. Publishers can earn when their articles appear in Comet’s AI-generated search results, when their sites attract traffic through the Comet browser, and when Comet’s AI assistant uses a publisher’s content to complete tasks for users. In effect, the scheme aligns compensation with the various ways readers interact with content in Perplexity’s ecosystem, including agent-assisted visits and synthesized answers. The...