#Report: Perplexity plans to sell ads
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Perplexity believes generative AI will eventually help it build even better targeting for advertisers to bid on high-value traffic.
How it will work. Related questions, which include links to sources, account for 40% of Perplexity’s queries. So Perplexity plans to add relevant, related brand-sponsored questions along with organic questions.
Brand safety. It will be “a paramount priority,” Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told Adweek.
When. Details are few. All we know is it is coming “in the upcoming quarters.”
Why we care. Perplexity, founded in August 2022, has a much smaller user base (a self-reported 15 million monthly active users) than the likes of Google, Microsoft Bing and AI rival ChatGPT. However, Google, OpenAI and other AI-powered search engines have yet to figure out how to reliably monetize AI search. So it will be interesting to see whether Google or other companies follow this path.
Perplexity vs. ads. On its About page, Perplexity says:
“Perplexity was founded on the belief that searching for information should be a straightforward, efficient experience, free from the influence of advertising-driven models.”
However, Shevelenko said:
- “Advertising was always part of how we’re going to build a great business.”
In a separate recent interview with Wired (subscription required), Perplexity founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas discussed ads, said he wasn’t against advertising. In fact, his vision for advertising on the platform is to help advertisers understand who is searching and then bid on the most “high-value traffic.”
- “Ads are not evil. When ads are done right it’s amazing, and generative AI is going to help us build even better targeting.”
This is a stark contrast from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who doesn’t love ads. He has even called internet advertising a “momentary industry.”
The report. Adweek’s Trishla Ostwal covered it in Gen-AI Search Engine Perplexity Has a Plan to Sell Ads.
Danny Goodwin has been Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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