ChatGPT has begun testing ads in its answer engine in the U.S., and Target, along with its retail media division Roundel, is among the first partner brands to participate.
After months of rumors, OpenAI formally announced plans to begin offering advertising in January, and the test is now live for logged-in adult users in ChatGPT’s Free and Go subscription tiers. Subscribers in the Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education tiers will not have ads.
ChatGPT Ads will Not Influence Answers, OpenAI Promises
Contrary to Anthropic’s claims in its high-profile series of Super Bowl ads, OpenAI said that ads will not influence the answers that ChatGPT provides. OpenAI also reassured users that privacy is front of mind as it tests out this new revenue-generating feature, saying that advertisers will not have access to users’ chats, chat history, memories or personal details, only aggregate information about how their ads perform, such as number of views or clicks.
ChatGPT Answers will continue to be optimized based on what’s most helpful to the user’s query, according to a statement from OpenAI, and when an ad is included, it will be “clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the organic answer.”
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“Keeping the Free and Go tiers fast and reliable requires significant infrastructure and ongoing investment,” reads the OpenAI statement. “Ads help fund that work, supporting broader access to AI through higher-quality free and low-cost options, and enabling us to keep improving the intelligence and capabilities we offer over time. If you prefer not to see ads, you can upgrade to our Plus or Pro plans or opt out of ads in the Free tier in exchange for fewer daily free messages.”
Target Joins as Early Test Partner of ChatGPT Ads
Sponsored, contextual ads from Target and Roundel retail media business partners (along with other “select” businesses) will appear alongside users’ shopping conversations in ChatGPT, based on keywords in a guest’s ChatGPT prompt. For example, a user asking, “What are some countertop cooking appliances that make everyday meals more convenient?” may see an ad for an air fryer from a pilot participant embedded in the personalized response.
According to Target, traffic from ChatGPT to its platforms is growing 40% on average every month, so the company sees the pilot as part of its ongoing strategy to proactively enter this new realm of online discovery. Target also has been an early partner of commerce integrations on ChatGPT and Google’s AI answer engine platforms.
“By working closely with partners like Target in this pilot, we’re able to thoughtfully test new ad experiences and learn together to ensure ads are separate and clearly distinct, relevant and useful while maintaining the trust people place in ChatGPT,” said Asad Awan, Ads and Monetization lead at OpenAI in a statement.
ChatGPT Users will Have Control Over Ad Experience
During the test, ChatGPT will decide which ad to show by matching ads submitted by advertisers with the topic of the conversation, as well as past chats and past interactions with ads. For example, if a user is researching recipes, they may see ads for meal kits or grocery delivery. If there are multiple advertisers that fit the bill, ChatGPT will select the one that is most relevant to the current chat to show first.
Ads also will not be shown for accounts where the user has said, or ChatGPT predicts, that they are under 18, and ads will not be eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics. Users also can control the ads they see, including dismissing ads, sharing feedback, learning more about how and why they’re being shown a particular ad, easily deleting ad data and managing ad personalization.
