According to TechCrunch, People Inc has signed an AI licensing deal with Microsoft, making the media giant a launch partner in Microsoft’s new publisher content marketplace. This marks People Inc’s second AI partnership following its earlier agreement with OpenAI last year. The announcement came during parent company IAC’s third-quarter earnings, where People Inc revealed that Google Search traffic has plummeted from 54% of its total traffic two years ago to just 24% in the past quarter. CEO Neil Vogel described the Microsoft marketplace as a “pay-per-use” model where AI players directly compensate publishers, with Microsoft’s Copilot being the first buyer. Meanwhile, People Inc reported digital revenue growth of 9% to $269 million for the quarter, driven by performance marketing and licensing which saw 38% and 24% growth respectively.
Publisher power play
Here’s the thing – this Microsoft deal isn’t just another licensing agreement. It’s part of a much broader strategy that People Inc has been quietly executing. They’re using Cloudflare’s technology to block AI crawlers, and CEO Vogel straight up admitted this has been “very effective” at bringing “almost everyone to the table.” Basically, they’re forcing AI companies to choose: pay for content or get nothing. And it’s working.
Google traffic crash
That 54% to 24% Google traffic drop is absolutely brutal. We’re talking about losing more than half their search traffic in just two years. Now, some of that might be Google’s algorithm changes, but Vogel specifically called out Google’s AI Overviews as hurting their traffic. He didn’t hold back either – called Google a “bad actor” because publishers can’t block Google’s bot without killing their remaining search traffic. It’s a classic hostage situation, and publishers are finally fighting back.
Different deal models
What’s interesting is how People Inc is playing the field with different deal structures. The OpenAI deal was more of an “all-you-can-eat” model, while Microsoft’s is “a la carte” pay-per-use. Vogel says they’re happy with either approach as long as content is “respected and paid for.” Smart move – don’t get locked into one revenue model when the entire AI content landscape is still forming. They’re basically becoming content wholesalers to the AI industry, and with their recent acquisition of Feedfeed, they’re building an even bigger content arsenal.
What this means
So where does this leave other publishers? Watching very carefully, I’d imagine. People Inc is showing that there’s leverage in quality content and technical blocking. The fact that they’re growing digital revenue 9% while their main traffic source collapses suggests their strategy is working. More deals are coming, Vogel hinted. The question is: will this become the new normal for publisher-AI relationships, or will smaller publishers get left behind? Either way, the era of AI companies freely scraping publisher content appears to be ending, and not a moment too soon.
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