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People Inc., formerly Dotdash Meredith, announced on November 4, 2025, that it had become a launch partner in Microsoft’s publisher content marketplace. Microsoft Copilot was expected to be the first buyer. The arrangement could create a new payment stream when AI products use People Inc. content, but it is not a replacement for the visitors, advertising impressions, affiliate clicks, or reader relationships historically generated by Google.
The announcement came as Google’s role in People Inc.’s audience was shrinking sharply. The company is therefore testing a different publishing model: earn from licensed use and distributed audiences, not only from sessions on its own websites.
What People Inc. and Microsoft announced
People Inc. said it was joining Microsoft’s publisher content marketplace as a launch partner. Microsoft described the marketplace as a way for AI companies to compensate publishers for using their content. Copilot was expected to be the marketplace’s first buyer.
Chief executive Neil Vogel described the arrangement as broadly pay-per-use or à la carte: compensation could be connected to measurable use of a publisher’s material. The public announcement did not disclose a contract value, rate card, minimum guarantee, covered brands, term, exclusivity, usage cap, audit rights, or whether the license covers training, retrieval, summaries, citations, generated answers, or some combination.
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That uncertainty matters. “AI licensing deal” establishes authorized access and a commercial relationship; it does not establish that Microsoft is training a model on People Inc.’s entire archive.
TechCrunch’s report on the announcement says the financial terms were not disclosed.
Microsoft’s marketplace versus People Inc.’s OpenAI arrangement
Vogel contrasted the Microsoft marketplace with People Inc.’s earlier OpenAI arrangement. He characterized the Microsoft model as roughly “pay-per-use” and the OpenAI arrangement as more like “all-you-can-eat.” Those are descriptions from the company’s executive, not published contract language.
| Feature | Microsoft marketplace | Earlier OpenAI arrangement |
|---|---|---|
| Public description | À la carte or pay-per-use | “All-you-can-eat,” as Vogel characterized it |
| Potential economics | Could link payment to queries, retrievals or other measured consumption | Could provide broader, more predictable access for an agreed payment |
| Published legal mechanics | Not stated | Not stated |
| Public price or guarantee | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
A usage-linked deal may offer upside when demand grows, but it depends on accurate measurement and enforcement. A broad or flat-fee license is easier to forecast, while potentially providing less direct connection between payment and individual use. Neither public account establishes the precise technical or legal mechanics.
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The percentages often cited in coverage refer to different measures and dates. They should not be combined into a single “Google decline” figure.
| Measure | Reported figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Google share of traffic, roughly two years before Q3 2025 | About 54% | Earlier traffic-share comparison in People Inc.’s investor materials |
| Google share of core sessions, Q3 2025 | About 24% | Share of the company’s defined core sessions during that quarter |
| Google Search share of total digital revenue, Q3 2025 | Approximately 16% | Revenue exposure, not a traffic percentage |
| Google Search referrals over two years, Q1 2026 disclosure | Down 63% | Later company-reported change in referral volume |
| Top queries showing Google AI Overviews, Q1 2026 disclosure | Nearly 70% | Company-reported presence of AI Overviews on its leading queries |
The Q3 figures come from IAC’s investor materials. The later referral and AI Overview figures come from People Inc.’s Q1 2026 earnings-call materials filed with the SEC. People Inc. has also cited algorithm changes, changes in business arrangements and changing search behavior; the company has not attributed every lost session to AI Overviews alone.
Why the traffic decline matters financially
A Google visit can produce an advertising impression, an affiliate or commerce click, and a chance to convert a reader into a newsletter subscriber, app user, member or repeat visitor. It also supplies audience and behavioral signals used in editorial and advertising decisions.
When an AI answer satisfies a query without a click, those downstream opportunities can disappear even if the publisher’s information helped produce the answer. A licensing payment may compensate for authorized use, but it does not automatically reproduce the value of a pageview, an affiliate conversion or a direct reader relationship.
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People Inc.’s later disclosures show why this is a business-model transition rather than a simple collapse story. The company reported continued digital-revenue growth while Google referrals declined, helped by licensing, distributed content and other revenue that does not require a session on a People Inc.-owned page.
Is Microsoft replacing Google?
No. The available evidence supports diversification, not substitution.
- Licensing can pay for AI use, but it does not send the same volume of visitors to publisher sites.
- It may not replace advertising impressions, affiliate conversions or first-party audience growth.
- People Inc. is also pursuing distribution through Apple News, social and video platforms, and other partnerships.
- Relying on Microsoft or another AI platform can create a new form of platform dependence even as Google dependence falls.
The practical question is whether licensing and off-platform revenue grow fast enough, and with adequate margins and renewal certainty, to offset the value of lost on-site activity. Public disclosures do not provide enough detail to calculate that trade-off for this contract.
How crawler blocking became negotiating leverage
People Inc. said it used Cloudflare technology to block AI crawlers other than Google’s crawler. The strategy is straightforward:
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- Make unrestricted access contingent on a commercial agreement.
- Restore authorized access when terms are agreed.
Vogel said the policy helped bring AI companies to the negotiating table. Cloudflare’s relevant product information is available at its AI Crawl Control page.
Google is a special case because People Inc. said Google uses the same crawler for traditional search and AI-related functions. Blocking it may therefore reduce conventional search visibility as well as AI access. People Inc.’s criticism of Google’s crawler practices describes that conflict. Rules that are too broad can also interfere with legitimate indexing, accessibility services or future distribution channels.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What publishers should examine before licensing AI use
Define the permitted use
Specify whether rights cover model training, retrieval, indexing, summaries, generated answers, citations, images, databases, archives, translations or only selected brands and time periods.
Demand measurable reporting
Ask how queries, retrievals, impressions or content uses are counted; whether the publisher can audit the numbers; and how disputed usage is resolved.
Protect attribution and discovery
Establish whether the AI product will display the publisher’s name, link to the source, preserve canonical URLs and distinguish licensed material from unattributed output.
Compare payment structures
Evaluate flat fees, minimum guarantees, per-use payments, revenue shares and hybrids. Predictability may be more valuable than theoretical upside for a publisher with volatile traffic.
Check rights and cannibalization
Confirm that the publisher controls text, images, recipes, databases, user contributions and syndicated material. Model whether better AI answers could reduce higher-value advertising, commerce or subscription activity.
Limit strategic lock-in
Review exclusivity, geography, archive dates, renewal terms, product changes and termination rights. A deal that reduces Google exposure but makes one AI platform indispensable may simply relocate the risk.
What remains unknown about the Microsoft deal
- The amount Microsoft will pay and whether there is a minimum guarantee.
- The People Inc. brands, formats and years of content covered.
- How Copilot usage will be measured and audited.
- Whether answers will cite and link to People Inc. pages.
- Whether any training use is included.
- Whether licensing revenue offsets lost advertising, affiliate and commerce value.
- Whether smaller publishers can obtain comparable terms.
People Inc.’s scale, recognizable brands and large archive may give it negotiating leverage that a small site does not have. The deal is therefore evidence that licensing is becoming a possible revenue layer—not proof of a universal replacement for search-driven publishing.
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