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OpenAI Expands Ad Formats; Cloudflare Tests Pay‑per‑Query

OpenAI is hiring engineers focused on new ad formats — including image, video and conversational units — signaling plans to broaden its ChatGPT ad experiences while emphasizing privacy and trust. Cloudflare expanded tools to classify crawlers (search, agent, training) and is shifting from a pay‑per‑crawl approach to testing a pay‑per‑query model that compensates publishers when AI uses their content, partnering with startups Ceramic.ai and You.com on pilots. The Daily News Roundup also notes regulatory developments around the Paramount‑WBD merger (EU concessions filed; EU approval deadline extended to July 22) and various industry briefs including a Swedish antitrust ruling requiring Google to pay Klarna, hiring moves at Meta and WPP Production, and new hires at AI ad platform Audion.

Cloudflare blocks mixed-use crawlers on ad pages

Cloudflare announced a policy change that, starting September 15, 2026, will by default block “mixed-use” web crawlers (those that combine search, agent use, and training) from crawling pages that host ads. The new defaults apply to new Cloudflare customers, new sites of existing customers, and all existing free customers unless site owners change their settings. Cloudflare says the change encourages AI companies to separate search crawlers from agents and training crawlers and enables new commercial opportunities for publishers, evolving its Pay Per Crawl marketplace into a Pay Per Use model. Initial partners for publisher payments are Ceramic.ai and You.com. Cloudflare also cited internal data showing over 50% of AI crawler traffic re-fetches unchanged pages, and framed the move as protecting publishers’ IP and bandwidth while reshaping access for AI model providers.

Cloudflare unveils AI-crawl controls, monetization tools

Cloudflare announced new classifications, analytics, and commercial partnerships to support an “agentic Internet” where automated agents and AI bots access web content under clearer rules. The company will test and finalize default settings over the next two months and plans to set defaults on September 15, 2026 that allow search but block training and agent use on pages with ads for new customers/sites (and for existing free customers who do not change settings). Cloudflare introduced an Attribution Business Insights dashboard, promoted Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) as a new discipline, and is evolving Pay Per Crawl into Pay Per Use to compensate publishers when their content creates value. It named partners including Ceramic.ai, You.com, beehiiv, Condé Nast and Patreon, and described prior initiatives such as AI Crawl Control and Web Bot Auth. Cloudflare says the changes aim to improve discoverability, reduce redundant crawling, and enable fairer monetization for creators.