Google AI content licensing payment plan revealed, most publishers receive little

According to The Information (relayed by The Decoder and The Verge), Google is paying content licensing fees to about 100 publishers through a pilot program, with the licensed content used for AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini, and payments calculated based on how much the content contributes to those AI features. The report revealed that payments vary enormously among publishers: small websites earn less than $1,000 over several months, while some publishers can make over $1 million a year; The Verge added that one of the earliest publishers to join received more than $1 million in a year, and another that joined a few months ago received about $50,000–$60,000. The payment mechanism is opaque and amounts change month to month. Additionally, The Verge noted the regulatory backdrop: the UK has required Google to let publishers opt out of AI search features, and the EU has launched an investigation into its impact on search traffic and demanded remediation. The event is at the reporting stage; no public response or follow-up action from Google has been reported.

AI overview of reporting · Updated 17 days ago