Google pilots AI payments for publishers, lowers Search profile bar

Image credit: Search Engine Journal

Google began a pilot program in the United States to compensate publishers whose content significantly contributes to AI-generated answers within Gemini, AI Overviews, and AI Mode, while simultaneously reducing follower requirements for Search profiles.

The company confirmed it is piloting a payment scheme for publishers whose material is deemed important for AI responses, though the specific criteria or basis for these payouts were not immediately transparent.

Separately, Google lowered the follower threshold for its Search profiles to 10,000 across platforms including YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok, making the feature more accessible to a broader range of creators, according to company statements.

Reporting AI position data in Search Console presents challenges due to the shift away from traditional 1-10 rankings, Google’s John Mueller said. The generative AI report in Search Console does not provide specific link positions but rather inherits the position of the overall Overview block, he added.

In a related development, Cloudflare introduced a new ‘Disallow AI Training’ setting in robots.txt, allowing website operators to prevent their content from being used for AI training while still permitting conventional search engine crawling, the company announced.

Ibrahim Badr, a Google spokesperson, said the company is committed to working with publishers to ensure a sustainable ecosystem as AI technologies advance.

The payment pilot is part of Google’s broader strategy to acknowledge and reward the value of original content in an AI-driven search environment, the company indicated.

Publishers have expressed concerns about the use of their content by AI models without adequate compensation or clear attribution, according to reports in Digiday and other industry publications.

The reduced follower requirement for Search profiles aims to empower more creators to establish a direct presence in Google Search results, potentially increasing their visibility.

Source: Search Engine Journal