Paid subscriptions for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education will remain ad-free. The ads will appear at the bottom of the ChatGPT responses, are clearly marked as sponsored, and do not affect the content of the AI-generated responses. No ads will be displayed for users under the age of 18 and when discussing sensitive topics such as health, mental health, and politics.

Integration with Criteo and a minimum budget of ,000 for advertisers

OpenAI has integrated the technology of the Criteo advertising platform for ad purchase and targeting. Criteo offers advertisers placements with a minimum budget of $50,000 to $100,000, according to The Information. However, the effectiveness of measurements is limited: OpenAI provides Criteo with only basic data, making personalized targeting and ROI estimates for brands difficult.

Despite the restrictions, OpenAI predicts that consumer revenue, including advertising, will reach $17 billion this year. The company said that advertising will help maintain free access to ChatGPT without strict restrictions on use, without selling user data to advertisers and preserving the privacy of dialogues.

Expansion into global markets after pilot evaluation in the USA

According to an updated statement from OpenAI on March 26, after analyzing the results of the American pilot — low ad closures, no impact on user trust metrics, and improved relevance the company will launch ads in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in the coming weeks. Further expansion to "many other markets" is planned before the end of the year.

The advertising model is becoming critically important for OpenAI, as only about 5% of the 920 million users pay for a subscription, and the cost of computing infrastructure for training and running models such as GPT-4o is estimated at billions of dollars. Advertising allows you to monetize the remaining 95% of users without completely shutting down advanced functions for the paywall.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/openai-expand-ads-chatgpt-all-free-low-cost-users-information-reports-2026-03-21/