OpenAI launches ads in ChatGPT, analyzes chat content for targeting
3, 2, 1 – and now comes a storm of outrage? OpenAI has just announced that it will test advertising in ChatGPT in the coming weeks. The ads are initially to be introduced exclusively in the USA and affect only certain user groups.
Advertising will be displayed exclusively to adult, logged-in users in the USA who use either the free version or the inexpensive Go subscription ($8/month). No ads will be displayed on accounts of people under 18 years of age – either through self-disclosure or prediction by the system.
Users of the higher-priced Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscriptions will not see ads. OpenAI emphasizes that there will continue to be an ad-free paid option.
Placement and Personalization of Advertising
The planned ads appear at the end of ChatGPT responses when a relevant sponsored product or service matches the current conversation. Relevance is based on the content of the ongoing conversation. Ads are clearly marked with the label “Sponsored” and separated from the regular response.
OpenAI states that conversation content remains private and is not sold to advertisers. However, it is also clear that the content of a user’s conversation must be evaluated in order to display suitable products and links to online shops.
Users can disable personalization and delete data used for advertising purposes at any time. For each ad, users can see why it is being displayed and can reject it with a reason.
Exclusion of Sensitive Topics
In certain areas, no advertising will be displayed as a matter of principle. These include conversations about health, mental health, and politics.
OpenAI formulates several principles for advertising marketing: ChatGPT’s responses should remain independent of advertising and be optimized exclusively for usefulness. The company states that it does not optimize for time spent, but rather prioritizes user trust and user experience.
The company justifies this step with the goal of enabling more people to access AI technology by using advertising revenue to reduce or eliminate usage limits. The test phase is to begin in the coming weeks.
