CoMP (Content Monetization Protocols) Initiative

Last updated: April 10, 2026

As generative AI and LLMs reshape how content is discovered and consumed, publisher traffic from search is dropping by 50% or more, based on recent studies. Content is increasingly reused or summarized without clear permission, reporting, or attribution — creating both business and operational risk because there is:

No standardized way to communicate usage rights or terms to LLMs
No transparency into when or how content is accessed or used
No validation or provenance mechanisms to confirm content authenticity

The CoMP Working Group is developing open technical standards to enable responsible, transparent interaction between Content Owners and AI Systems. V1 of CoMP was open for Public Comment until April 9, 2026. You can join the working group to contribute to the feedback by emailing techlab@iabtechlab.com.

Understanding CoMP

CoMP is only part of the solution for Content Owner monetization in the age of AI Systems. It requires other partners to come to the table and for content owners to take control of their own traffic with a blocking strategy that works for their situation. Whether you take a block-list or an allow-list approach, Content Owners need to do something. The IAB Tech Lab Spiders and Bots list is a good starting point to understand the bots that are out there.

The short video below explains that CoMP does and does not cover, and below that you can see the workflow between AI Systems and Content Owners when blocking and CoMP are in place.

What CoMP IS:

APIs for communicating between AI System and Content Owner if the Bot has a license to access the Content Owner
Definitions of the types of request the licensed AI System can make of the Content Owner
Content Packaging guidance for ensuring that the transaction is efficient and fast with machine readable information supplied

What CoMP is NOT

Blocking system for bots, but we strongly recommend that Content Owners have a robust blocking strategy in place
Licensing system or marketplace
Definition of the economic models for value exchange between the AI System and Content Owner

Content Monetization Protocols Workflow

Why Publishers Need CoMP

If traffic is no longer the primary currency, the value exchange shifts from clicks to contribution
That means value is created upstream, not just at the point of visit
The challenge – and the opportunity – is making that contribution visible and compensable
So the future exchange is less about traffic volume and more about trust, influence, and measurable impact

Why Brands Need CoMP

The LLM Ingest API enables AI operators to query a brand’s content using natural language prompts as the API supports conversational interactions, returning content or content paths to enhance brand visibility and customer engagement
Essential to optimize for AI and develop collaboration with LLMs and AI agents to understand the prompts better and provide true and relevant content
More efficient model where the AI engine crawls content then AI agents are deployed for information leading to AI-driven results that present brand content to users and show ads to earn revenue

How CoMP Works

First, the AI Bot comes and asks permission to scrape the website. When there is no agreement, the Content Owner denies the request, and the Bot is directed to a Licensing URL

Once an agreement is in place the bot will send an access request and the reason for the request. This will be accepted by the Content Owner, and an access token will be issued to receive the content.

As adoption increases a marketplace is expected to develop where AI Systems will have an agreement with the marketplace. The marketplace will surface relevant content based on a number of agreed on dimensions, including Relevance, Quality, Recency, and Latency. This content is then delivered to the AI System to format for the end user, as you can see in the image below.