This week, the AI search engine Perplexity officially launched its advertising program in the U.S. market, pioneering a new model for search advertising. This highly anticipated AI company has successfully attracted several advertising giants, including Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann, and PMG.
Unlike traditional search advertising, Perplexity has created a unique advertising format that integrates AI conversational processes. Advertisers can naturally embed questions in relevant contexts, such as "How can I use Indeed to optimize my job search strategy?" This innovative approach significantly differs from traditional pay-per-click models, suggesting that the platform prioritizes brand exposure over direct traffic generation.
To ensure user experience and platform credibility, Perplexity has made it clear that advertisers cannot influence the content of AI responses, and it promises not to share user personal data with advertising partners. Additionally, the platform plans to share advertising revenue with some publishers who provide content for its AI system, a move that is particularly important amid the frequent lawsuits regarding unauthorized content usage.
Image Source Note: Image generated by AI, image licensed from Midjourney
However, Perplexity still faces several key challenges. The first is the issue of accuracy—sometimes the platform generates seemingly credible but actually incorrect information, errors that can often only be identified by experts in the field. Secondly, there is the problem of inaccurate source attribution. The company has remained silent on fundamental questions regarding whether it monitors these errors and whether it will release data on real-world accuracy.
Despite this, Perplexity continues to maintain growth momentum in the face of challenges such as the hallucination problem that all LLM search providers face, legal uncertainties, profitability pressures, and strong competitors like ChatGPT, with reports indicating that it is about to complete a new round of financing.
The launch of this advertising program not only marks an important step for Perplexity on its path to commercialization but also offers new possibilities for monetization models in AI search engines. However, the accompanying issues of accuracy and compliance will test the long-term development capabilities of this emerging AI company.
