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Google AI is accused of unfairly using publisher content without proper deals.
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Neil Vogel says Google acts as a “bad actor” by mixing search crawling and AI training.
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Online publishing leaders demand fair payment and stronger protections from tech giants.
Google AI and the Debate Over Fair Content Use
Google AI has come under fire from the publishing world for the way it collects and uses online content. At the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith), said Google unfairly takes material from publishers to fuel its artificial intelligence tools. He explained that the company relies on one crawler both for traditional search indexing and for AI training. This means that when publishers allow Google Search to index their websites, they also allow Google to use the same data to power Google AI products. Vogel argued this is not transparent or fair because publishers do not receive compensation for their work.
He stressed that online publishing has always been tied to traffic from Google Search, but the balance of power is changing. In earlier years, around 90 percent of his company’s website visitors came through Google Search. Three years ago, the figure had already dropped to 65 percent, and today it stands only in the high 20s. According to Vogel, the problem is not that People Inc. is struggling—it continues to grow audience numbers and revenue—but that Google should not be allowed to build AI products using content taken freely from publishers who end up competing with those same tools.
Neil Vogel Pushes Back Against Google’s Practices
Neil Vogel described Google as an “intentional bad actor” because the company refuses to separate its search crawler from its AI crawler. Publishers cannot block one without also blocking the other, which would mean losing valuable search traffic. Vogel explained that this gives Google an unfair advantage, because no publisher can afford to cut themselves off from search visibility. By holding this leverage, Google AI gains access to vast amounts of content without having to pay or negotiate.
To counter this, Vogel revealed that People Inc. has taken action. The company has partnered with Cloudflare, a major internet security provider, to block AI crawlers that do not offer payment. This forces AI companies to come to the negotiating table. He noted that People Inc. has already signed a deal with OpenAI, which he praised as a “good actor.” Other large AI companies have also begun talks, though no formal contracts have been signed yet. For Vogel, this is a step toward creating fairness in online publishing, where creators and news outlets are properly rewarded for the use of their content.
Online Publishing Industry Joins the Debate
The debate over online publishing and AI scraping is growing louder across the media industry. Janice Min, CEO of Ankler Media, supported Vogel’s position, calling big tech companies like Google and Meta “content kleptomaniacs.” Her company blocks AI crawlers completely, rejecting the idea that free use of publisher material is acceptable. She believes publishers must stand together to protect the value of their work in the new AI era.
Adding to the discussion, Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, warned that relying solely on copyright law will not be enough. He explained that many AI-generated outputs can fall under “fair use,” which makes it difficult to challenge them legally. However, he predicted that eventually, Google AI will be forced to pay content creators because the pressure from publishers will only increase. Prince went further, criticizing Google for shaping the web in unhealthy ways. He said the company trained publishers to focus more on traffic numbers than content quality, which he believes harmed the internet over time.
Google AI and the Future of Online Publishing
For the future of online publishing, the battle with tech giants like Google is becoming critical. As AI tools become more advanced, the demand for high-quality content to train them grows. Publishers like People Inc. are seeking leverage by blocking crawlers and demanding deals that protect their rights. According to Neil Vogel, this is the only way to ensure that journalism and digital media remain sustainable. Without fair agreements, publishers risk losing both their work and their audiences to AI-driven products that use their own content against them.
The fight highlights a bigger question: who owns the digital information that fuels artificial intelligence? While Google AI continues to expand, publishers are uniting to push for compensation and transparency. The outcome of this conflict may shape how news, media, and knowledge are shared online for years to come.
