It's a tough game for Perplexity as long as they use Google's search, and with Google now providing "AI Summaries," and with the whole ad ecosystem (invented by Google) designed to turn us into predictable consuming robots, what's a pre-IPO company
going to do? Fight the good fight and stick with a subscription model, or knuckle under and start sending us Google ads?
Sucks. I will say this though: as soon as I see ads in my Perplexity search results, I'm cancelling my paid subscription and simply going back to Google. Without any other differentiating feature set, why would I pay Perplexity?
Ads are already in the paid subscription (this is a thing they've telegraphed since the beginning of last year?) So you will definitely see them sooner rather than later. But i 100% agree. There's no real reason to pay for the privilege of ads.
Sucks. I will say this though: as soon as I see ads in my Perplexity search results, I'm cancelling my paid subscription and simply going back to Google. Without any other differentiating feature set, why would I pay Perplexity?
RIP, Perplexity; it was good while it lasted.