.png)
"Hollowing out the ecosystem is not going to work in the long-term."
Lucky Gunasekara, CEO of Miso.ai, is leading the charge in transforming how media companies leverage artificial intelligence. Miso.ai is an AI media lab that focuses on news media, publishing, and online education.
I recently spoke with Lucky on The Revenue Room ™ podcast, and he shared his vision for Miso, and how AI can be effectively used by publishers.
"We're pretty narrowly focused these days on news media, publishing and online education," Lucky explains. "We have these AI building block models that publishers can unlock very quickly, often overnight for like personalized search or AI search or real-time recommendations or discovery that's personalized or first party data or native advertising."
With a presence on about 100 sites globally and billions of API calls processed, Miso’s AI's mission is clear: to put more money into media than they take out, recognizing the critical role of journalism in society.
Key Partnerships and Innovative Products
Miso's partnerships with notable clients such as Foundry and O'Reilly Media showcase the practical applications of their technology. Their flagship product, "Answers," offers AI-powered search capabilities for websites like Macworld.com and CIO.com. What sets Miso apart is their unique approach to user engagement.
Lucky elaborates, "We embed in every article questions that are based on the context of the article and further commentary in the adjacent articles. What we have found is that these questions, which we call “explore questions”, they are just extremely effective at driving engagement."
This innovative approach not only enhances user experience but also opens up new avenues for revenue generation. Miso integrates native affiliate ads and relevant white papers into their answers, creating a seamless blend of information and monetization opportunities.
"If the answer on macworld.com is talking about the Apple Watch Ultra 2, the lowest price to get the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is right there, through different affiliate partners. On CIO.com, you might ask a question about generative AI and cybersecurity, and we'll present the answer, again, strictly from the title and the network of sibling sites that you're on, but we'll also show a white paper from a partner discussing cybersecurity and gen AI."
Impressive Revenue Impact
The implementation of Miso’s solutions has led to significant improvements in key performance indicators for their clients, such as site registrations. Lucky reports, "We've seen 2X registrations through this funnel. And then the direct attribution subs lift that we've seen is about 10 percent right now". The engagement with native advertising has been particularly remarkable, with Lucky stating, "We've seen 10 to 25 times higher click through rates than display."
These impressive metrics underscore the potential of AI-powered solutions to not only enhance user engagement but also drive tangible business results for publishers. The impact extends beyond just click-through rates, as Miso's solutions are driving registrations and subscriptions for their clients.
Given the significant revenue impact of AI solutions in the media industry, Lucky will be sharing more insights on this topic at our upcoming RevvedUP conference. RevvedUP, focusing on revenue generation and enterprise growth, is an exclusive event for C-suite executives in media, events, and marketplace industries. RevvedUP will be held from February 25-27 at the Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota, providing an ideal platform for industry leaders to explore innovative strategies for leveraging AI to boost revenue and drive business growth. Learn more here.
Advocating for Fair Compensation in AI Content Usage
As AI continues to reshape the media landscape, Lucky strongly emphasizes the importance of fairly compensating publishers for their content used in AI systems. He criticizes the current approach of many AI companies, stating, "Hollowing out the ecosystem is not going to work in the long-term."
This stance reflects a growing concern in the industry about the sustainability of current AI practices and their impact on content creators. Lucky advocates for a more balanced relationship between tech companies and media publishers, suggesting the need for an "iTunes-like" solution for AI and publishing, with fair revenue sharing.
O'Reilly Media's Pioneering Approach
In response to these challenges, Miso has collaborated with O'Reilly Media to develop a groundbreaking model where creators receive royalties for AI-generated answers using their content. Lucky explains, "We built out a forensic model because of the way that we're set up, you know, we're by default able to, when we take in a question, have a data trail of which titles do we consider, which snippets did we look at?"
This innovative approach not only ensures fair compensation for content creators but also sets a new standard for ethical AI practices in the publishing industry. It demonstrates that it's possible to harness the power of AI while maintaining a sustainable ecosystem for content creation.
The Future of Media and AI
Looking ahead, Lucky envisions a more symbiotic relationship between AI companies and publishers. He suggests,
"The market and the world just needs a more transparent and equitable framework for getting AI answers out to the public at scale from trustworthy sources and in a way that drives high rev share, and credit and attribution to sources."
This vision extends beyond mere financial considerations, touching on the broader role of media in society. Lucky emphasizes the importance of maintaining a robust and diverse media landscape, capable of driving social progress and cultural change.
Closing Thoughts
The current landscape of media, AI, and tech is at a critical juncture. Lucky expresses concern about the present state of AI and publishing relationships, highlighting the need for a more equitable and sustainable model. The rapid advancement of AI technology has created both opportunities and challenges for the publishing industry.
Currently, there's a significant imbalance in how AI companies are utilizing content from publishers without adequate compensation or attribution. This situation echoes past disruptions in the media industry, such as the early days of search engines and digital music distribution.
The media and publishing sectors are facing a crucial moment where they need to assert their value and negotiate fair terms with tech companies. There's a growing recognition that quality content is essential for AI systems to function effectively, yet the current models often fail to reflect this in terms of revenue sharing or proper attribution.
As the industry moves forward, there's an urgent need for innovative solutions that can bridge the gap between AI capabilities and fair compensation for content creators. The current "deal, no deal, or deal with it" approach is unsustainable in the long term and risks eroding the quality and diversity of content available to consumers.
The challenge ahead lies in creating a more balanced ecosystem where both tech companies and media publishers can thrive, ensuring that the value of quality journalism and content creation is properly recognized and rewarded in the AI-driven future.
About the Author
Heather Holst-Knudsen boasts deep roots in B2B media, events, data, and SaaS sectors. With beginnings in her family business, Thomas Publishing Company (now under Xometry), she brings years of expertise and passion for multi-faceted business models, data analytics, revenue, and profitability. As the founder and CEO of H2K Labs, Heather helps clients boost revenues, enhance profitability, and increase enterprise value by strategically activating data, digital technologies, and AI.
Her latest venture, Revenue Room™ Connect, is a professional network for CEOs and their revenue-critical teams to learn and execute the core foundations required to reshape, modernize and transform their organizations into scalable, high-performing, data-centric entities ready to compete and win. Revenue Room™ Connect will host its first face-to-face summit, RevvedUP 2025, on February 25-27th, in Sarasota FL.
Have a question or want to share your perspective? Want me to answer your data challenge in my next "Dear Heather" column?
Email me and let’s set up a time to speak.
Follow me on:
