OpenAI is officially an adtech company.
OpenAI says it will begin testing ads in ChatGPT in the coming weeks, a major shift for the company as it looks to drive revenue and expand access. (Even if only “some number of dimes.”)
The tests will run in the U.S. to start, for people using the free tier and the $8-per-month ChatGPT Go subscription, which OpenAI is also launching in the U.S. after rolling out to 171 countries since August. Higher-priced Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will remain ad-free.
According to OpenAI, ads will appear at the bottom of answers when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service tied to the conversation. Ads will be clearly labeled, separated from organic responses, and unavailable for sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health, or politics.
Why This Matters:
This is a big deal in that it’s really the first example—after Perplexity’s failed attempt—of scaled ad experiences in a top gen-AI assistant. And it’s an attractive offering.
For advertisers, ChatGPT represents a new kind of channel that’s high-intent, conversational, and deeply contextual. Unlike search or social feeds, users come to ChatGPT with explicit questions and tasks, which could make relevance much higher.
For the adtech ecosystem, OpenAI’s approach also sets an early benchmark. The company is drawing hard lines around answer independence, conversation privacy, and user control, implicitly responding to concerns that ads could distort AI output or compromise trust (which is the lynchpin for the service). How well those principles hold up in practice will shape how comfortable brands and users become with ads inside AI assistants.
Experts React:
While OpenAI hasn’t named launch partners or adtech providers that will support the offering, we think the framing will resonate with marketers.
Here’s what DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski had to say about the launch:
“This isn’t surprising. It closely mirrors Netflix’s rollout—where the company embraced an ad-supported model, ultimately turning it into a key revenue driver. Done well, the introduction of ads into these experiences can be incredibly compelling for brands and for users who want free options to access content. And in any ad environment, trust and performance are critical—and based on the principles they’ve outlined, it’s clear they’re thinking about that.”
And here are some quick reactions on X:
Our Take:
This is part OpenAI “embracing ads” and part OpenAI smartly trying to control the narrative before ads arrive. The company knows people won’t necessarily love the idea of ads in the ChatGPT interface—and Sam Altman has never been a fan—so this feels like an attempt to mitigate that reaction early and avoid the trust erosion that seems at least somewhat inevitable at launch.
It’s also signaling to advertisers that this won’t be a spray-and-pray environment. There will be fewer ads, clear labeling, and tighter relevance, all of which may limit scale early on, but will very likely make ChatGPT as an ad surface more credible over the long term.
AdTechRadar is owned by Chris Harihar, an EVP at Mod Op. DoubleVerify is a Mod Op client.
