Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

Toshit Panigrahi: Navigating the Future of Content Monetization

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Oct 24, 2024

Toshit Panigrahi, CEO and co-founder of TollBit, brings a wealth of experience from his decade at Toast where he developed consumer products and advertising strategies. He discusses how AI is reshaping content monetization, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions to protect creators. The conversation highlights the revolutionary 'bot paywall' that simplifies payments for content usage and addresses the challenges publishers face in an AI-driven landscape. Toshit also explores future dynamics of advertising and the critical role of SEO in this evolving digital ecosystem.

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ANECDOTE

Toast's Contextual Ads

Toshit Panigrahi led an ad business at Toast, focusing on contextual ads within their restaurant ecosystem.
These ads subtly nudged consumer behavior, like promoting Amex or Apple Pay during checkout.

INSIGHT

Disintermediation and Ad Revenue

LLMs accessing websites for information reduces human impressions, impacting ad revenue.
This shift disrupts content monetization, especially for publishers.

INSIGHT

Publishers as the Canary

Publishers are the first to be significantly affected by this disruption.
Their monetization relies on the presentation layer, making them vulnerable to AI-driven changes.

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Toshit Panigrahi, CEO and co-founder of TollBit, joins Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano for this week’s episode of Generative Now. TollBit is a platform that enables publishers and content creators to extract revenue from AI companies that use their data. Toshit and Michael discuss how advancements in AI are already reshaping the economics of the internet, TollBit’s innovative “bot paywall” for publishers, and how to incentivize content creation in this constantly evolving landscape.

Toshit previously spent nearly a decade at restaurant software company Toast, where he helped build many consumer products as well as Toast’s contextual ad business. Toshit earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and minored in business administration at Boston University.

Episode Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:40) Toshit’s Background at Toast
(05:08) Building an Ads Business at Toast
(07:15) AI and Content Monetization
(10:52) The Birth of TollBit
(12:53) Opportunities and Challenges for Publishers
(16:17) The Role of AI in Content Strategy
(20:52) The Importance of SEO in the Age of AI
(22:04) Introducing the Bot Paywall
(23:45) Market Dynamics vs. Regulation
(25:03) Challenges in AI Licensing
(27:28) The Future of Content Creation and Monetization
(33:18) Unlocking the Full Potential of AI Agents
(36:15) Current Publisher Collaborations with TollBit
(41:38) The Future of Advertising and Content Valuation
(44:55) Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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