OpenAI has expanded its ChatGPT advertising pilot to the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, with further markets to follow later this year.
The test, first launched in the United States in February, shows ads to logged-in adult users on the Free and Go tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education subscribers do not see advertising.
OpenAI maintains that ads have no bearing on the answers ChatGPT gives. Sponsored content is clearly labelled and visually separated from organic responses, and ads are matched to a user's conversation topic, chat history and past interactions with adverts. Advertisers do not see actual conversations, chat histories or personal details, receiving only aggregate performance data such as views and clicks.
Safeguards include excluding under-18 accounts and withholding ads from sensitive categories such as health, mental health and politics. Users can dismiss ads, review why they were shown one, and delete their ad data at any time.
An earlier update in March reported encouraging early results, with no measurable impact on consumer trust and low ad dismissal rates, prompting the initial expansion into Canada, Australia and New Zealand ahead of this week's five-market rollout.
