OpenAI announced on Monday (5) a new format of visual ads on ChatGPT, which will begin to be tested as early as October in the United States. The company also expanded conversion, attribution, and measurement tools, bringing its advertising platform closer to the infrastructure used by major digital advertisers.
The new ads will initially be displayed during image generation, with a limited group of advertisers. According to OpenAI, the creatives will be identified as advertising and will remain separate from user-created content.
The change comes as the company tries to turn ChatGPT's scale into a broader advertising business. OpenAI says the service reaches 1.2 billion people per week, an audience that can be reached while researching products, comparing alternatives, or making decisions within the conversation itself.
The company also added integrations with Hightouch, Tealium, and LiveRamp, allowing advertisers to send conversion data to ChatGPT Ads. The platform also began working with attribution services such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, and Triple Whale.
The infrastructure includes Pixel and Conversions API, used to link purchases, sign-ups, and lead generation to ads shown on ChatGPT. OpenAI is also testing ways to measure incrementality, seeking to identify how many conversions were actually driven by advertising.
OpenAI begins measuring impact on sales
The first data released by partners indicate that the company is already trying to position ChatGPT as a measurable acquisition channel. According to DV Rockerbox, the cost per acquisition attributed to ChatGPT Ads for WeightWatchers was 15.3% below the company's combined paid search media benchmark.
WorkMagic recorded an increase in purchases for the Dose brand, with 67% of incremental sales coming from new customers. Triple Whale, in turn, said that 93% of visitors sent by ChatGPT Ads to Portland Leather were new users. The results represent specific campaigns and not the platform's overall performance.
OpenAI also began work with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science to evaluate brand suitability. The expansion adds to ChatGPT components that are common in mature digital advertising platforms, such as conversion optimization, attribution, incrementality testing, and brand suitability controls.
