ChatGPT Ads Cost $60 Per 1,000 Views—Triple Meta's Rate

OpenAI is asking advertisers to pay $60 per 1,000 views for ads on ChatGPT—three times what Meta typically charges. But here's the catch: you won't get the detailed performance data that Google and Meta provide.

Premium Price, Basic Metrics

Early advertisers on ChatGPT will receive only "high-level" data like total ad views and clicks. No conversion tracking, no detailed user behavior analysis, no insights into whether someone actually bought something after seeing your ad.

This represents a stark departure from the data-rich environment that digital advertisers have come to expect. Google and Meta built their advertising empires on granular tracking and optimization capabilities. OpenAI is essentially asking brands to pay more for less visibility into performance.

The company has suggested it might provide more detailed metrics "down the line," but offered no timeline when it announced ChatGPT ads earlier this month. For now, advertisers are being asked to take a leap of faith.

The Conversational Advantage

So why are advertisers interested? ChatGPT's 400 million monthly active users engage with the platform differently than they do with social media or search engines. They're having extended, contextual conversations that reveal intent and preferences in ways that a quick Google search or Facebook scroll might not.

When someone asks ChatGPT for restaurant recommendations or career advice, they're in a different mindset than when they're passively scrolling through feeds. This creates opportunities for more natural, conversational advertising that feels less intrusive.

The challenge is proving this theory works without the measurement tools that have become standard in digital advertising. It's like asking marketers to return to the pre-digital era of advertising, where success was harder to quantify.

The Privacy Play

OpenAI's approach might actually be strategic positioning rather than a limitation. As privacy regulations tighten and consumers become more wary of tracking, a platform that promises less data collection could become more attractive.

Apple's privacy changes already disrupted Facebook's advertising model. OpenAI might be betting that the future of advertising lies in contextual relevance rather than behavioral tracking. If users trust ChatGPT more because it doesn't follow them around the web, that trust could translate into advertising value.

But this creates a fundamental tension: advertisers want accountability, while consumers increasingly want privacy. OpenAI is testing whether premium pricing can compensate for reduced measurement capabilities.

Market Disruption or Overreach?

The $60 CPM (cost per thousand impressions) puts ChatGPT in premium territory typically reserved for high-impact placements like Super Bowl commercials or prime-time TV spots. The question is whether AI conversation context can justify such pricing without traditional performance metrics.

For established brands with large budgets, this might be an acceptable experiment. For smaller businesses that rely on precise ROI calculations, it's a much harder sell. This pricing strategy could inadvertently create a two-tier system where only well-funded companies can afford to test AI advertising.