AI search company Perplexity AI has announced plans to launch advertisements on its search application in the fourth quarter of this year. It is reported that the Perplexity AI app has been downloaded over 2 million times, answering more than 230 million queries monthly, with U.S. query volume growing eightfold over the past year.
Image source note: The image is AI-generated, authorized by service provider Midjourney
Perplexity AI completed a funding round in April, with the company's valuation exceeding $1 billion, doubling from three months prior. Last month, Perplexity introduced a revenue-sharing model, offering publishers the opportunity to earn money through the company's search engine. Whenever a user asks a question, Perplexity shares a portion of the ad revenue generated by citing articles in its answers with the publishers.
Media and content platforms including Fortune, Time, Entrepreneur, Texas Tribune, Der Spiegel, and WordPress were among the first to join the company's "Publisher Program." Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity's Chief Commercial Officer, said in a July interview with CNBC that if three articles from a publisher are used in an answer, the partner will receive "triple the revenue share." He mentioned that the company has been developing this feature since January, aiming to have 30 publishers join by the end of the year.
In terms of advertising, Perplexity will follow a CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) model, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity as the details have not been made public. The CPM price will exceed $50. Last year, search engine marketing company Semrush wrote in a blog post that the CPM for desktop display ads typically hovers around $2.50, while mobile video rates are approximately $11.10.
Perplexity stated in its pitch materials that the main advertising categories initially will include technology, health and pharmaceuticals, arts and entertainment, finance, and food and beverages. Advertisers will be able to sponsor "related questions" below the answers and purchase display ads on the right side or in the generated answers by Perplexity.
According to the presentation, over 80% of Perplexity users hold a bachelor's degree, with 30% in "senior leadership positions" and 65% in "high-income white-collar professions" such as medicine, law, and software engineering.
AI-assisted search is seen as one of the main risks for Google, as it could change how consumers obtain information online. OpenAI launched ChatGPT at the end of 2022, sparking a generative AI craze, and last month introduced a search engine named SearchGPT. In May, Google introduced "AI Summaries" in search, allowing users to see quick summary answers at the top of the results.
Key Points:
🚀 **Perplexity AI Launches Ads**: Despite plagiarism controversies, the company plans to introduce search ads in the fourth quarter.
📈 **Growth in AI-assisted Search**: The app has been downloaded over 2 million times, with 230 million monthly queries, and U.S. query volume has grown eightfold in a year.
💼 **Revenue Sharing and Advertising Model**: Perplexity has introduced a revenue-sharing model with publishers and plans to adopt a CPM advertising model.