Taboola Unveils DeeperDive, a Gen AI Answer Engine Built for the Open Web

Taboola announced DeeperDive, an industry-first Gen AI answer engine designed to live directly on publisher websites and leverage their own content. DeeperDive connects readers with trusted sources to explore topics they care about, directly within publisher sites. Some of the largest publishers in the world have joined Taboola as design partners for DeeperDive, including Gannett I USA TODAY Network, and The Independent.

Today’s publishers face growing threats from Generative AI-powered search engines that scrape their content without permission, reduce their traffic, and offer no compensation in return. DeeperDive offers a new path forward—giving publishers a way to compete, not be replaced. DeeperDive brings the power of Gen AI search engines—now a familiar experience to millions of users—directly onto publisher websites, tapping into years of proprietary, real-time, high-quality content created by journalists and editors across the open web. Readers can ask questions about topics they’re interested in, and have AI provide answers instantly, sourced from trusted journalists such as the best travel desk or top sports reporters. DeeperDive not only prompts questions that may be of interest, it delivers a direct response, much like popular Gen AI engines, but it goes a step further. This technology surfaces additional context and stories from the same publisher site, offering users a richer, more valuable view — not just a single, oversimplified answer.

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Publishers can use DeeperDive to deliver a cutting-edge, Gen AI-powered user experience that today’s audiences expect. By meeting users with intuitive, conversational interfaces and instant, relevant answers, publishers can stay competitive in a rapidly shifting digital landscape and reinforce their brand as a trusted, forward-thinking destination.

DeeperDive is built to provide:

• Smarter, more diverse answers for readers: Readers receive rich, multifaceted answers, based on Taboola’s advanced AI and real-time insights from over 600 million daily active users across a global network of 9,000 publisher partners. Unlike traditional Gen AI engines that rely on static training data, Taboola understands what people are actively reading and engaging with — across topics, geographies, and moments. This unique “pulse of the internet” allows DeeperDive to surface timely, contextual answers and even suggest questions based on current trends. The result is a richer, more human search experience rooted in what truly matters to real people — right now, on the site they trust.
• Increased readership and engagement for publishers: Every reader question is met with a clear, intuitive answer, along with links to relevant and timely articles from across the publisher’s site. This keeps users engaged longer and encourages deeper content exploration. For the first time, publishers can engage their audience with real-time, AI-powered content tailored to the user, whether it's about travel plans, a favorite sports team, or important financial decisions, meaningfully increasing time on site and reader loyalty.
• Unlocking high-intent ad revenue opportunities and owning the future with AI agents across high intent categories: DeeperDive has the potential to create a new monetization channel for publishers starting by inserting contextually relevant, high-intent ads directly into the AI-powered results page. Publishers can capture search-like advertising revenue within their own environments — turning user inquiries into meaningful commercial opportunities, all while maintaining a seamless reader experience.

“Taboola’s DeeperDive is an exciting win for our audience and the publishing industry at large. We’re thrilled to be the first to roll out this technology in the U.S. within USA TODAY. Taboola is a longtime partner that has shown an unwavering commitment to helping us accelerate audience development and unlocking growth. With DeeperDive, we see an opportunity to give our readers an innovative new way to explore our trusted content on our properties. DeeperDive combines the high-caliber reporting that the USA TODAY Network is known for with the AI technology and expertise that only Taboola can deliver,” said Michael Reed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gannett | USA TODAY Network. “Taboola continues to be a key partner for our growth,” said Christian Broughton, CEO at The Independent and Independent Media. “The Independent is innovating and investing in AI across our business, and recently launched Bulletin, a new service dedicated to serving busy readers who want truly independent, trustworthy news. We are delighted to be design partners on DeeperDive, which we will be using across The Independent and Bulletin. It has the potential to amplify the agenda-setting journalism we produce, build deeper engagement, and allow us to build even deeper relationships with our audience." “Today marks a major step forward for the open web,” said Adam Singolda, CEO and Founder of Taboola. “With DeeperDive, we’re giving publishers the power to join the Gen AI revolution on their own terms, creating richer, more trusted experiences for users and unlocking search-like monetization opportunities that were previously out of reach. Over time, this means enabling publishers to own high-intent moments with AI agents across categories like travel, finance, sports, and commerce where users make meaningful decisions on platforms they already trust. It’s the shift from 50 cents per click to $500 per conversion, right on the publisher’s site. This is a big day not just for Taboola, but for the entire industry. I believe it will change how billions of people discover and decide online.” “The open web thrives when innovation and fairness go hand in hand. It’s simply not sustainable for Gen AI engines to rely on publisher content while sending little traffic and compensating only a select few. That’s not innovation, it’s exploitation. Today is a moment for unity and clarity: publishers deserve real value in return for their work. It’s time to build a future where AI helps drive the open web, not drain it, by generating meaningful traffic, sharing value, and respecting the creators who make the internet worth exploring,” continued Singolda. SOURCE: GlobeNewswire