ChatGPT has more ads. Specifically, OpenAI is adding visual display ads to its advertising product lineup so that ads appear alongside images that users ask ChatGPT to generate. Additionally, the company is expanding its ad measurement tools and partnerships and developing new ways to determine brand fit.
The new ads will now begin running in the U.S. later this month and will feature products and services from an initial test group of advertisers. Ads will also be clearly labeled and will not affect the answers ChatGPT provides, the company said.
The move follows the launch of Meta’s Muse, an agent AI app available for free to anyone and a competitor to leading AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
OpenAI introduced advertising earlier this year to support its free and low-cost subscription tiers, and expanded it to India in August.
Now, the plan is to use more visual images to tell a story, attracting online advertisers who want to appeal to potential customers. Ultimately, these ads, once rolled out globally, will be able to target ChatGPT’s 1.2 billion weekly users.
However, integrating such ads can also have a disruptive impact on the user experience. But perhaps that’s partly the point, as advertising may encourage more common users to pay for a subscription to avoid it.
Alongside display advertising, OpenAI said it is expanding its measurement tools and partner ecosystem, which now includes click attribution solutions AppsFlyer, Triple Whale, Adjust, DV Rockerbox, Northbeam, Branch, Singular, Kochava, Airbridge, and Tenjin, as well as full-funnel advanced measurement partners Fospha, Measured, and INCRMNTAL.
OpenAI is also partnering with Haus, Measured, and WorkMagic to help advertisers explore “geo-based” experimentation with advertising.
The company said it is working on developing a brand suitability assessment pilot with support from DoubleVerify (DV) and Integral Ad Science (IAS), which will help advertisers better understand the ChatGPT advertising environment.
Taken together, these moves mean OpenAI is working to make ChatGPT a viable ad-supported business for users on its free and low-cost plans.
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