Perplexity have announced the introduction of advertising to its service, partnering with major brands including Indeed and Whole Foods Market, while maintaining its commitment to unbiased search results and user privacy.
Perplexity, a leading AI-powered search engine, is taking its first steps into advertising this week, marking a shift in its business strategy while promising to preserve the platform's core value of delivering unbiased information.
The initial rollout will be limited to U.S. users and will feature two distinct advertising formats: sponsored follow-up questions and paid media placements positioned alongside search results. The company stresses that all sponsored content will be clearly labelled to maintain transparency with users.
"The content of the answers you receive on Perplexity will not be influenced by advertisers," the Perplexity Team stated in their announcement. This commitment comes as the company aims to balance commercial viability with its mission to "spark the world's curiosity."
The company has secured partnerships with several prominent brands and agencies, including Indeed, Whole Foods Market, Universal McCann, and PMG. Unlike traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) practices, Perplexity's advertising model aims to avoid manipulative tactics that could compromise search result quality.
A key motivation behind this initiative is the development of a sustainable revenue-sharing programme with publisher partners. The company revealed that subscription revenue alone has proven insufficient to support this goal, particularly given the rapid growth of their publisher programme.
Perplexity's advertising framework includes two fundamental guarantees: maintaining unbiased search results and protecting user privacy. The company has explicitly stated it will not share personal information with advertisers.