How the Ads Will Work
- Selection: current conversation topic plus general location and device type. OpenAI says past chats and memories are not used, at least to begin
- Placement: a labelled unit below the answer, visually separate. OpenAI says ads do not influence responses
- Advertisers see: aggregate views and clicks only, never chats, memories or personal details
- Exempt: minors and sensitive topics such as health, mental health and politics, per OpenAI’s earlier statements
- Opting out: Plus or higher. Free users can pick an ad-free mode with lower limits and no image generation, while Go has no ad-free switch
What Happened After the Pilot
The US test began February 9 for logged-in adults. By late March, OpenAI reported $100 million in annualised ad revenue, over 600 advertisers, and fewer than 20% of eligible users seeing an ad daily, claiming no dent in trust metrics. Expansion followed: Canada, Australia and New Zealand; the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, announced in May; 31 European countries on August 24; and seven Asian markets on September 23, passing 60 countries overall. OpenAI now says its run rate exceeds $1 billion, and an image-based ad format begins US testing later this month.
The advertiser side is less settled. A Similarweb and Graphite report found only Jotform and Resume.io held a top-ten advertiser spot in all 20 weeks from May 4 to September 4, with retail and ecommerce largely absent.
Our Take
The wording matters more than the rollout. The pilot matched ads to conversation topic, past chats and past ad interactions, and OpenAI’s March 24 policy notice described ads as personalised. This email says ads will not be personalised “to begin.” That is a starting posture, not a promise: OpenAI’s help centre already lists a “Personalize ads” control and a “Past chats and memory” setting, so personalisation exists as a switch, and memory-based targeting remains the concern raised since the first leak.
For Nigeria, the notice may arrive before the market does. Announced markets span North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, and one local advertiser guide says self-serve ad buying is not yet open in Nigeria, so whether Nigerian users are in this batch is unconfirmed. If they are, early inventory will likely be sales-led, as in the UK, favouring large advertisers over the small businesses OpenAI says ads will help. Rivals are watching: reports that Gemini ads were coming were denied by Google in December 2025, which said the app had no ads and no current plans, while ads already run in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Leave personalisation off unless the trade-off works for you.
Follow us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, X, and Telegram to Get Instant Updates
