The parent company of the Bucks County Courier Times and Doylestown Intelligencer has struck a partnership with data analytics firm and government intelligence contractor Palantir to help analyze and monetize digital readers.
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USA Today Co., which owns its namesake national paper along with more than 200 local publications across the country, announced the deal Thursday during its second-quarter earnings call.
The move comes as news organizations struggle with declining search traffic.
Kristin Roberts, president of USA Today Media, said the drop “does not reflect lower demand for the content.”
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“What it reflects is lower referrals from traditional search because of those consumer discovery changes that we’re seeing and witnessing,” Roberts told investors.
Michael Reed, chairman and CEO of USA Today Co., said the agreement will help the publisher process its consumer metrics much faster.
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“We’re really excited about this opportunity and what it could do for the trajectory of our business transformation,” Reed said. “We have really a tremendous amount of data on consumers on our platform today. This work with Palantir is really going to allow us to connect that audience behavior, content engagement, and first-party data in a way that allows us to monetize each consumer on the platform at a much higher rate.”
Reed said the technology will help deliver targeted articles, advertisements, commerce opportunities, and subscription offers in real time, while turning anonymous site visitors into known accounts.
“I think this partnership with Palantir is exciting to us too because what may take us a considerable amount of time to build internally, we can do in a matter of weeks or months with Palantir,” Reed said, adding that all data and intellectual property remain with USA Today Co.
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“We’ll evaluate this work. We’re in it now,” Reed added. “We’ll look at conversion, retention, engagement, and revenue per user.”
Palantir has drawn controversy in recent months over its contracts supplying technology to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Defense, the Israeli military, and other governments. The firm was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel.
USA Today Co. joins a list of media companies using Palantir’s tools. Fox News and Axel Springer, the owner of Politico and Business Insider, are among its customers.
Overall, USA Today Co. reported an 8.3 percent year-over-year revenue decline for the quarter amid weak digital advertising. However, free cash flow rose 11.2 percent, and the company remained profitable after years of cuts. There was revenue growth due to paid digital subscriptions and new AI partnerships.
