USA Today Co., which owns more than 200 local newspapers and the national USA Today, announced a partnership with software company Palantir to analyze user behavior and drive revenue growth.
During the company’s Q2 earnings call Thursday, CEO Mike Reed told investors the partnership will “strengthen how we collect, connect and activate audience data to drive more effective and faster monetization across our platform.” According to Reed, the strategy involves converting anonymous interactions into known, first-party relationships that enable more effective user engagement and higher-value revenue streams.
“Every visit, every session, and every moment of attention creates a signal,” Reed said. “When we connect those signals, they become actionable intelligence that allows us to engage users more effectively and monetize those relationships faster and at much greater value.”
The partnership arrives as USA Today Co. faces declining search traffic. The company reported 158 million unique visitors in Q2, down from 180 million in Q1. Kristin Roberts, president of USA Today Media, attributed the decline not to reduced content demand but to “lower referrals from traditional search because of those consumer discovery changes.” She noted that World Cup coverage generated 97 million pageviews, with search driving nearly 65% of that traffic, demonstrating that search remains valuable when content meets urgent reader needs.
According to the company, Palantir’s AI-powered platform will help convert the scale of USA Today’s audience into actionable intelligence while maintaining data ownership. “It’s really just leveraging this incredible AI and software that Palantir has to allow us to move so much faster and to be so much smarter with the data we have today,” Reed told investors.
Roberts told employees the partnership could result in “better recommendations and offers based on what people actually care about” and “smarter subscription and advertising experiences.” USA Today Co. stated it “complies with applicable data protection and privacy laws and maintains strong standards for data security and governance” and requires the same of vendors and partners.
Palantir has also partnered with other media companies, including Axel Springer (which owns Business Insider, Politico, and The Telegraph) and Fox News. The company has faced controversy for providing technology to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Israeli military.
Key facts
- USA Today Co. owns over 200 local newspapers plus the national USA Today publication
- The company reported 158 million unique visitors in Q2, down from 180 million in Q1
- Palantir’s AI platform will help convert anonymous user interactions into known reader relationships
- USA Today Co. says it maintains data ownership and complies with data protection laws
- Other media companies including Fox News and Axel Springer also partner with Palantir