According to TechCrunch, People Inc has signed an AI licensing deal with Microsoft as part of parent company IAC’s third-quarter earnings announcement. The media giant will become a launch partner in Microsoft’s publisher content marketplace, which CEO Neil Vogel described as a “pay-per-use market” where AI players compensate publishers directly. This comes as People Inc revealed Google Search traffic has plummeted from 54% of its total traffic two years ago to just 24% last quarter, largely due to Google’s AI Overviews. The Microsoft deal follows People Inc’s earlier agreement with OpenAI last year, though Vogel characterized that as more of an “all-you-can-eat” model. Meanwhile, People Inc grew digital revenue 9% to $269 million this quarter and recently acquired food-focused publisher Feedfeed.
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Publisher power play
Here’s the thing: People Inc isn’t just signing deals – they’re actively forcing AI companies to the negotiating table. Vogel has been brutally honest about using Cloudflare’s technology to block AI crawlers, and he says it’s been “very effective” at bringing “almost everyone to the table.” That’s a massive shift from just a year ago when publishers watched helplessly as AI companies scraped their content without compensation.
And the numbers don’t lie. When your Google traffic drops from 54% to 24% in two years, you either adapt or die. People Inc is choosing adaptation through aggressive licensing deals. They’re basically creating a new revenue stream while their traditional search traffic evaporates. Performance marketing grew 38% and licensing jumped 24% this quarter – those aren’t small numbers.
<h2 id="microsoft-vs-google-dynamics”>Microsoft vs Google dynamics
What’s really fascinating is how differently Microsoft and Google are approaching this. Microsoft is playing nice – paying for content through their new marketplace and making Copilot the first buyer. Meanwhile, Vogel called Google a “bad actor” because they use the same bot for search and AI features, leaving publishers with no way to block AI scraping without killing their search traffic.
So we’re seeing a real divergence in strategy. Microsoft seems to understand that high-quality AI needs high-quality, paid content. Google? They’re trying to have it both ways. But when publishers like People Inc start publicly sharing how much Google’s AI features are hurting their business, that creates serious pressure.
Future of content licensing
Vogel says they’re happy with either the “a la carte” Microsoft model or the “all-you-can-eat” OpenAI approach – what matters is that content is “respected and paid for.” That flexibility is smart because different AI companies will prefer different models.
Look, this is probably just the beginning. Vogel hinted that more deals are coming, and other major publishers are watching closely. If blocking crawlers forces negotiations and licensing becomes a meaningful revenue stream, we could see a wholesale shift in how publishers approach AI companies. The days of free scraping might actually be ending.
But here’s my question: can this scale? Not every publisher has the leverage of People Inc. Smaller outlets might still get squeezed while giants cut favorable deals. Still, it’s a start – and a clear signal that quality content won’t be free for AI forever.
