OpenAI is bringing ads inside ChatGPT to 31 European countries, in its largest expansion of the ad business so far. The rollout starts next week, the company said in a blog post. The list runs from Germany, France, Spain and Italy to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Portugal, according to Adweek.
The move extends a pilot that OpenAI began in the United States in February. Over six months it added eight more markets, Adweek reported. They were Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico. The European launch is much larger than any step before it. It roughly quadruples the number of countries where the ads run, and adds several of Europe’s biggest advertising markets at once.
Advertisers will get in through OpenAI’s own sales team and its agency and technology partners at first. A self-service tool, called Ads Manager, will follow later this summer, the company said. That would let smaller advertisers buy ads without going through OpenAI’s sales team.
Who sees the ads
The ads will reach only some users. OpenAI said they appear only for people on its Free and Go plans. The Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions stay ad-free. Go is OpenAI’s cheaper paid tier, so the ads will reach both free users and some paying ones.
