OpenAI is taking another step towards building a full advertising platform.
The company has begun testing a new ad format within ChatGPT that allows multiple advertisers to appear on one sponsored site. This move expands the amount of ad inventory available on ChatGPT while giving advertisers more opportunities to reach users during product research and purchase-related conversations.
According to an update sent to advertisers, testing is currently limited to a small set of ChatGPT ads.
To date, sponsored placements have typically featured a single advertiser. Under the new test, ChatGPT can show multiple affiliate advertisers within the same ad unit.
OpenAI says that eligible ads will be sold on a secondary pricing model, a pricing method commonly used in all digital advertising platforms where the highest bidder wins but pays less than the next highest bid.
The company says the goal is to improve product discovery for users while increasing opportunities for advertisers to engage with highly targeted audiences.
For advertisers, the test provides an early look at how OpenAI can transform their advertising business as competition for AI-driven traffic grows.
Ads Manager gains standard features
Alongside the new ad format, OpenAI is adding several campaign management features designed to make its platform look more like the ad programs used by advertisers.
Advertisers can now convert existing campaigns from lifetime budgets to daily budgets and merge CPM campaigns into CPC campaigns with one click. Impression-based campaigns also now support custom maximum CPM bids.
The company added bulk planning tools to Ads Manager and announced that the daily budget will switch to an average daily budget model, providing greater flexibility over the course of the week.
Together, the updates reduce some of the friction marketers often face when managing campaigns on multiple platforms.
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International expansion continues
OpenAI also extends localization options.
Previously, advertisers could target users in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The platform now supports targeting in the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico.
The expansion gives advertisers access to a broader set of international markets and reflects OpenAI’s continued investment in growing its advertising ecosystem beyond English-speaking regions.
What marketers should watch
The new ad format may be the most important announcement in the review.
Allowing multiple advertisers to compete on the same platform increases the list without requiring OpenAI to dramatically increase the number of ads shown to users. It also creates a highly competitive auction environment that can ultimately impact pricing and campaign performance.
The test may also provide clues about OpenAI’s long-term monetization strategy. If multi-marketer placement works well, it could become a larger part of a company’s advertising inventory and play an increasing role in how products reach consumers during the AI-assisted research and purchase journey.
