Publishers' perplexing plant-based subscription plan
Perplexity Unveils Comet Plus: A New Era for Online Publishing
Perplexity, the tech company behind the recently launched Comet browser, has announced the introduction of a new subscription service called Comet Plus. The service, priced at $5 per month, aims to revolutionise the online publishing industry by offering premium content from a group of trusted publishers and journalists.
In a move that could potentially disrupt the current market dominated by Google Chrome, Perplexity has made an offer of $34.5 billion to Alphabet, Google's parent company, to acquire its Chrome browser. However, the offer is yet to be accepted.
The specific publishers participating in the Comet Plus program have not been publicly disclosed, with Perplexity describing the partners as a "group of trusted publishers and journalists." The names of these publishing partners will be revealed once the Comet browser is available to all users.
The Comet browser, launched in July, is positioned as the solution for improving the web for everyone. It aims to move away from the "primitive economy of clicks and page views" and provide a more effective and efficient browsing experience.
Subscribers to Comet Plus will have direct access to participating publishers' websites, and will be able to task their AI assistants with activities on these sites. The service also promises to deliver direct answers based on the highest-quality content on the internet.
Perplexity plans to retain 20% of the revenue from Comet Plus, and distribute 80% to the publishers. The company believes that this new model for revenue distribution could potentially offer a solution to the problem of low-quality clickbait and endless blue links leading to human nonsense and no answers.
The Comet browser, if acquired, could potentially restore the trust of readers and improve the reputation of publishers. This is inferred as the Comet browser aims to improve the web for everyone, which includes restoring trust and improving the reputation of publishers.
Bloomberg reports that Comet Plus has a budget of $42.5 million. The service is included in Perplexity's Pro and Max plans.
The launch of Comet Plus marks a significant move by Perplexity since the launch of the Comet browser. The company is poised to challenge the status quo in the online publishing industry and offer a more efficient, effective, and trustworthy browsing experience for users.
