The news: OpenAI will bring ads to all US ChatGPT free and Go users, according to The Information—but advertisers who have participated in the first wave of ChatGPT ads are still waiting on results.

• Advertisers cited by The Information claim that OpenAI’s ad process is low-tech, and that they still lack data proving the ads have worked.
• Two agency executives working with ChatGPT advertisers report that they have yet to prove measurable business outcomes from ChatGPT ads.
• One exec noted that a major issue so far has been that ChatGPT ads aren’t displayed frequently enough to fully understand their impact.

Behind the results: Lacking outcomes from initial ChatGPT ads can be boiled down to two key issues.

• OpenAI still does not offer advertisers a simple, automated way to purchase ad space. As a result, buyers have resorted to using spreadsheets, emails, or phone calls to contact OpenAI representatives.
• The company does not offer advertisers substantial information on how ads perform beyond how often people click on or view them, complicating measurement. Established offerings from adtech companies and digital media firms, in contrast, offer clear data on how campaigns drive business outcomes.

Implications for marketers: ChatGPT’s massive and growing user base—expected to surpass 100 million in the US in 2027—isn’t enough to guarantee the worth of its ad initiatives. Advertisers are facing major costs—with initial upfront requirements of roughly $200,000—for a platform with ad offerings that are nascent and unproven. Marketers buying into ChatGPT ads because of its established base could be wasting budgets that would be better spent on channels with proven results.

• Marketers with smaller budgets are advised to wait and see. ChatGPT’s lack of results are to be somewhat expected given how early the platform is in its ad offerings. With time and trial and error, these offerings are likely to mature and offer better results.
• While small-budget advertisers should consider steering clear for now, those who have the funds for experimental ad offerings could benefit from early adoption. These marketers won’t have to grapple with using the majority of their ad budgets on an unproven offering and could still gain trust from users before the space becomes more saturated with ads.