- 14 Mar 2002
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'Zero-click searches': this is also a valid concern for webmasters!
As generative AI search tools have become more common, several news organisations have begun saying more openly that they will not accept what they describe as "free-riding," meaning the use of their reporting without permission. Their position has been shaped by the worry that, if their work can be taken without proper payment, the business of journalism itself may weaken, and with it the conditions that support a functioning democracy.
Several publishers have already acted on these concerns. The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Kyodo News and Sankei Shimbun Co. each sent letters of protest to Perplexity AI Inc., a U.S. firm that produces generative AI search services. Perplexity's tool, available on computers and smartphones, provides AI-generated answers to user queries and occasionally includes source citations, a feature the companies cited in their complaints.
Zero-click searches:
News organisations have long accepted that conventional search engines show links, headlines and short excerpts from their stories, since this was generally seen as a limited form of use. People tended to click through to the original pieces, and publishers did not regard that arrangement as taking income away from them. They are drawing a sharper line with generative AI search tools. These systems depend far more heavily on the wording of the original articles, and editors worry that if readers feel they have already got what they need from the AI's summary, they will not follow the link back to the source. This kind of "zero-click search," they say, can cut into web advertising revenue and create other problems for the companies that produced the reporting in the first place.
As generative AI search tools have become more common, several news organisations have begun saying more openly that they will not accept what they describe as "free-riding," meaning the use of their reporting without permission. Their position has been shaped by the worry that, if their work can be taken without proper payment, the business of journalism itself may weaken, and with it the conditions that support a functioning democracy.
Several publishers have already acted on these concerns. The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Kyodo News and Sankei Shimbun Co. each sent letters of protest to Perplexity AI Inc., a U.S. firm that produces generative AI search services. Perplexity's tool, available on computers and smartphones, provides AI-generated answers to user queries and occasionally includes source citations, a feature the companies cited in their complaints.
Zero-click searches:
News organisations have long accepted that conventional search engines show links, headlines and short excerpts from their stories, since this was generally seen as a limited form of use. People tended to click through to the original pieces, and publishers did not regard that arrangement as taking income away from them. They are drawing a sharper line with generative AI search tools. These systems depend far more heavily on the wording of the original articles, and editors worry that if readers feel they have already got what they need from the AI's summary, they will not follow the link back to the source. This kind of "zero-click search," they say, can cut into web advertising revenue and create other problems for the companies that produced the reporting in the first place.
Japan news organizations taking firm stance on generative AI's 'free-riding' - The Mainichi
TOKYO -- With the growing use of generative AI search services, media organizations are increasingly asserting that