Google is paying almost no publishers almost nothing for content used in AI answers

Google is paying about 100 digital publishers for content used in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and the Gemini chatbot. Some publishers say they don't know how their payments are calculated. The pilot program launched less than a year ago, according to The Information. Publishers can track how often Google uses their content and how much they earn in Google Search Console.

The publication reports wide differences in payments. For several small and midsize blogs and websites, they amount to less than 0.1 percent of ad revenue. One publisher received $50,000 to $60,000 over a few months, while another earns more than $1 million a year. Small sites received less than $1,000 over several months. Payments depend on how much each source contributes to an AI answer, but some participants told The Information they don't know how Google calculates them.

They also said payments can change from…