OpenAI took its ‘next step’ in its advertising pilot this week by releasing a self-serve Ads Manager for US businesses.
The new tool, announced in beta format on Monday (4 May), allows advertisers to upload ads, set budgets, control bids and track performance themselves, marking the biggest expansion for ChatGPT since it introduced ads to the product three months ago.
When OpenAI first started experimenting with ads, select businesses could only buy ads on the chatbot through agency partners, like Omnicom, Publicis and WPP. But the new Ads Manager will allow businesses of all sizes to advertise on ChatGPT directly.
OpenAI is also introducing cost-per-click (CPC) pricing, in addition to the cost-per-mille (CPM) that was already available. Offering CPC moves OpenAI closer to what advertisers are used to with Google and Meta, allowing budgets to be tied directly to measurable actions, and therefore easier to test and compare.
For CPC campaigns, advertisers will be able to set custom maximum bids, though OpenAI recommends a bid of $3 to $5 per click. These figures are broadly in line with the average CPC at Google. Compare that to the $60 OpenAI was originally charging for CPM, which was more in line with streaming services, rather than Meta, which charges roughly six times less.
OpenAI is also set to scrap the minimum spend requirement. This was set to $200k when first released, lowered to $50k last month, and will soon be dropped completely.
The rollout of these features indicates that OpenAI is targeting smaller businesses and aiming to compete directly with Google and Meta. Analyst Eric Seufert wrote: ‘It’s not hard to imagine how the ad platform evolves from here. OpenAI is almost assuredly building a platform in the image of Meta’s, which means it will cater the platform to the needs of SMBs, particularly eCommerce and retail advertisers.’ Hardly surprising given the senior ad executives OpenAI has poached Meta.
Speaking of Meta, it also announced changes to its ad platform this week. It announced on April 30 that it would allow users to create, manage and analyse campaigns via compatible AI agents such as ChatGPT and Claude.
Meta Ads AI Connectors, offered in open beta format, lets advertisers connect campaign data into AI environments, allowing them to manage campaigns using natural language. Rather than toggling a button in the dashboard, users can instruct the AI agent to create a new campaign, update budgets or pull real-time performance data.
Cameron Armstrong, addressable director at VCCP Media, said: ‘Most people in the industry will read that as another vendor announcement. It’s not. It’s the moment the route to bought media stopped requiring 40-person trading desks.’
As the media buying process becomes increasingly automated, the question is what will clients actually pay media buyers for? ‘The honest answer can only be one thing. The context the model doesn’t have’, says Armstrong. ‘Whoever wires the best context wins. That’s the moat now.’
Which is the same point made by the speakers at the launch last week of the Media Planning Group, a group designed to support and celebrate the work of media buyers.
