OpenAI tests visual ads inside ChatGPT image generation

OpenAI introduced a new visual ad format for ChatGPT alongside expanded measurement tools and partnerships. The stated reach is 1.2 billion people each week, which the company calls the world’s largest AI native consumer platform, and the argument for advertising is that it lets OpenAI serve a much larger market than subscriptions alone. The new format shows product inspiration, product usage or the experiences a product makes possible, so a person can discover a brand and decide what to buy from an image rather than a paragraph.

The first placement is narrow and it matters: testing begins later this month in the US with an initial group of advertisers, and the format is tested during image generation in ChatGPT. Ads are clearly labeled and kept separate from the image being created, and OpenAI repeats that advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides.

Measurement is the bulk of the announcement. Integrations with Hightouch, Tealium and LiveRamp let advertisers send conversion data from existing systems, and attribution partners now include AppsFlyer, Triple Whale, Adjust, DV Rockerbox, Northbeam, Branch, Singular, Kochava, Airbridge and Tenjin, with Fospha, Measured and INCRMNTAL on full funnel and advanced measurement. On incrementality, OpenAI is working with Haus, Measured and WorkMagic on geo based experiments. The early partner numbers it publishes are: DV Rockerbox found WeightWatchers’ attributed cost per acquisition on ChatGPT Ads 15.3% lower than its blended paid search benchmark, WorkMagic reported 67% of incremental purchases for wellness brand Dose were net new customers, and Triple Whale reported 93% of Portland Leather’s visitors from ChatGPT Ads were new.

On brand safety, OpenAI describes placement guardrails that judge whether a conversation is appropriate for advertising, keeping ads out of emotionally vulnerable, sensitive or otherwise unsuitable contexts. Negative Phrases are now available to qualifying advertisers for narrow brand specific requirements, and the company is developing brand suitability evaluation pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, which assess the safeguards in a controlled setting without those partners accessing private user conversations.

(Original source: OpenAI)