HomeTaboola's Controversial Ad Format Shifts to AI Chatbot Service
Taboola, the company famous for powering those peculiar, clickbait-style ads commonly found below online articles, has developed an AI chatbot. The tool, named "DeeperDive," is now launching in beta on USA Today and The Independent, designed to respond to reader queries using content "sourced from trusted journalists."
A demonstration on Taboola’s website displays a DeeperDive search bar at the top of USA Today's homepage, which automatically suggests prompts such as "How is the UK government tackling the cost of living crisis in 2025?" and "What are the environmental impacts of recent oil drilling projects in the North Sea?"
DeeperDive's AI-generated response includes referenced articles — alongside an advertisement. GIF: TaboolaIn addition to delivering an AI-generated answer, the chatbot also showcases relevant USA Today articles, followed by a sponsored link. Taboola states in its announcement that DeepDive enables publishers to incorporate "contextually relevant, high-intent advertisements directly into the AI-generated results page." Users can also highlight a section of an article and use DeepDive to ask questions about it.
The AI tool will initially be visible to only one percent of USA Today's audience as its quality undergoes evaluation. The Verge contacted Taboola for more details regarding how many readers of The Independent will have access to DeepDive but has not yet received a response.
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This isn’t the first instance of USA Today's publisher, Gannett, utilizing AI. In 2023, the company halted its AI-generated sports reporting after facing criticism from both reporters and readers. It also published what seemed to be AI-generated articles on its Reviewed site—which it later shut down (though the site has since been revived under new ownership). USA Today also began testing AI-generated summaries placed at the beginning of articles last year.
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Taboola, the company famous for powering those peculiar, clickbait-style ads commonly found below online articles, has developed an AI chatbot. The tool, named "DeeperDive," is now launching in beta on USA Today and The Independent, designed to respond to reader queries using content "sourced from trusted journalists."
A demonstration on Taboola’s website displays a DeeperDive search bar at the top of USA Today's homepage, which automatically suggests prompts such as "How is the UK government tackling the cost of living crisis in 2025?" and "What are the environmental impacts of recent oil drilling projects in the North Sea?"
In addition to delivering an AI-generated answer, the chatbot also showcases relevant USA Today articles, followed by a sponsored link. Taboola states in its announcement that DeepDive enables publishers to incorporate "contextually relevant, high-intent advertisements directly into the AI-generated results page." Users can also highlight a section of an article and use DeepDive to ask questions about it.
The AI tool will initially be visible to only one percent of USA Today's audience as its quality undergoes evaluation. The Verge contacted Taboola for more details regarding how many readers of The Independent will have access to DeepDive but has not yet received a response.
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