USA Today
.svg){kind=small}
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982-09-15 |
| Legal Structure | Public |
| Industry | News, Newspapers, Broadcasting |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://www.usatoday.com |
USA Today is an American daily newspaper and news broadcasting company founded on September 15, 1982 by Allen "Al" Neuharth, the then-chairman of the newspaper publisher Gannett (now USA Today Co., Inc).[1]
Consumer-impact summary
[edit | edit source]User freedom
[edit | edit source]USA Today requires users to waive their right to a class action, as stated in their Terms of Service.
User privacy
[edit | edit source]User data is subject to analysis by the controversial data analytics company Palantir, as of the company's partnership with them that was announced in August 2026.
Incidents
[edit | edit source]This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the USA Today category.
Partnership with Palantir (6 Aug 2026)
[edit | edit source]On August 6th, 2026, in the company's Q2 earnings call, CEO and chairman Mike Reed announced that the company had begun a partnership with the AI data analytics company Palantir to facilitate the analysis and monetization of user behavior.[2] He said:
Every visit, every session, and every moment of attention creates a signal. 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 work our team is doing with Palantir is a direct extension of this strategy. We are applying Palantir’s AI-powered platform to one of the largest opportunities in front of us, converting the sheer scale of our audience into known, orchestrated first-party relationships, because that is what turns our reach into sustainable, higher value revenue.[3]
Kristin Roberts, president of USA Today Media, justified the partnership as consequent to a shift in consumer habits as it relates to online search discovery. USA Today reported 158 million unique visitors across its numerous publications, down from 180 million in the first quarter of the year. Roberts argued that the decline reflected not a lower demand for the content of the company's publications, but rather "lower referrals from traditional search because of those consumer discovery changes that we're seeing and witnessing."[2]
Class action waiver in Terms of Service
[edit | edit source]USA Today's Terms of Service include a class action waiver, which reads as follows:
19. Waiver of Class Actions
This is an important section that limits your right to bring a class action against us.
You and USA TODAY Co. agree that each party may bring disputes against the other party only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding, including, without limitation, a federal or state class action lawsuit. However, nothing in this section limits your right or USA TODAY Co.’s right to bring a lawsuit against each other as an individual plaintiff. This provision applies to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law to all claims that arise under, in connection with, or relate to this these Terms of Service, or your use of Service or products.[4]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Nan K. Chase (2021). "USA Today Is the First National Newspaper". EBSCO. Archived from the original on 22 Aug 2026. Retrieved 22 Aug 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hanaa Tameez (6 August 2026). "America's largest newspaper chain, USA Today Co., partners with Palantir to analyze audience data as search traffic falls". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on 22 Aug 2026. Retrieved 22 Aug 2026.
- ↑ Reed, Mike; Gosser, Trisha; Roberts, Kristin; Esposito, Matthew (6 Aug 2026). "TDAY Q2 Prepared Remarks" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 Aug 2026. Retrieved 22 Aug 2026.
- ↑ "Terms of Service". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2026-08-24. Retrieved 2026-08-24.