ChatGPT Ads is going to need more pages in its passport.
On Wednesday, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Ads will be expanding into 26 new countries. Fourteen of them, more than half, are in Latin America, including Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
Brazil (which joined the ads expansion back in August) currently has the third-largest share of ChatGPT visitors behind the US and India, so it makes sense that OpenAI wants to double down on the region.
In the roughly eight months since its launch, ChatGPT Ads has seen remarkable growth. OpenAI also said on Wednesday that more than 100,000 advertisers have run ads on the platform so far.
Growing pains
However, that’s not the same as having 100,000 active advertisers.
The Information recently reported that, as of early October, ChatGPT had about 60,000 active advertisers on the platform, citing research from Dan Salmon at New Street Research.
That suggests many of the advertisers who have tried the platform haven’t stuck around.
Still, ChatGPT’s ads business is on the rise. Earlier this year, it announced a $1 billion annualized run rate, meaning that, if growth continues at its current rate, it would earn $1 billion in revenue over a year – lofty, albeit short of the company’s initial prediction of $2.4 billion in revenue this year.
It’s not overly surprising that some advertisers are still only dabbling. After all, there’s no perfect playbook for building an ads business from scratch, although OpenAI has clearly been taking notes, particularly from Meta.
One of OpenAI’s biggest challenges has been “making sure the experience works well for both people and businesses,” an OpenAI spokesperson told AdExchanger. “That’s why we’re building out measurement alongside the expansion,” the spokesperson added, as well as maintaining a focus on “privacy, clear labeling and keeping ads separate from ChatGPT’s answers.”
It’s worth noting, as AdExchanger has previously reported, that many advertisers want to see stronger measurement solutions before they’re willing to commit more budget to ChatGPT Ads.
The ads they are a-changin’
Meanwhile, the format of the ads on ChatGPT have evolved quickly.
Earlier this month, OpenAI announced a new, more visual ad format with larger images. The ads, which will be served to people using ChatGPT for image generation, will be tested first in the US. OpenAI is also “exploring additional formats,” the spokesperson noted, but declined to elaborate on what those will look like.
Over the past few months, the ads have gone through several iterations, from a shaded box with unmissable “sponsored” text at the top to its latest format, which doesn’t even have a structured box around the ad and is only labeled rather obliquely off to the side.
Still, OpenAI is adamant that “people shouldn’t have to guess whether something is an ad” and that its ads remain “distinct” from ChatGPT’s responses, the spokesperson said.
The latest iterations just require users to be a bit more discerning.
