Source: OpenAI targets ~$60 per 1,000 views for ChatGPT ads, on par with live NFL broadcasts and above Meta's sub-$20 CPM, while offering little conversion data
The Information
Context & Ripple Effects
OpenAI had already begun offering ChatGPT ads to dozens of advertisers on a view-based basis, with commitments below $1 million, according to the initial advertiser rollout. This report puts a much clearer premium on that inventory: roughly $60 per thousand views.
The significance is not merely that ChatGPT is adding ads, but that OpenAI is pricing a new conversational placement above established social inventory before supplying conversion evidence. Later coverage describing a $60-per-thousand-impression charge suggests the rate became a durable part of the sales pitch rather than a one-off test.
First-order effects
Advertisers considering ChatGPT campaigns must evaluate a premium CPM against limited conversion data, making brand exposure and early access—not demonstrated performance—the immediate basis for buying.
OpenAI can test whether ChatGPT's audience and conversational context support premium ad pricing, while its sales team faces pressure to substantiate the rate with measurement.
Second-order effects
Meta gains a clearer price benchmark: its lower reported CPM makes measurable reach and performance data a central competitive counterpoint for advertisers allocating budgets.
Agencies and advertisers are likely to demand stronger attribution, reporting, or pricing concessions before shifting meaningful spend from established digital channels into ChatGPT ads.
Third-order effects
If conversational AI can sustain premium pricing, advertising may become a more important route for funding AI distribution and inference, rewarding products with commercially valuable user intent.
The market's long-term pricing power will hinge on whether AI ad formats can prove outcomes without eroding user trust; absent that evidence, premium CPMs may remain limited to early tests.
The trend: Generative-AI platforms are moving from subscription-led monetization toward advertising models that seek to price conversational intent as scarce, premium inventory.
Why are they selling on a CPM basis and not CPC (or other performance KPI)? I don't get it. Did they not read case studies of botched first attempts at ad models? iAds, Netflix, Perplexity etc. Everyone thinks they can command crazy CPMs until they are humbled by the market.
OpenAI is targeting ~$60 CPMs inside ChatGPT which is far above $META typical sub-$20 CPMs. Meta can run lower CPMs because it monetizes attention at massive scale. [image]
OpenAI's introductory ad pricing is close to what Netflix charged when it launched the ad-supported tier. Worth noting that Netflix saw a surfeit of *demand* at launch. It had to refund committed money to advertisers because it couldn't exhaust their budgets.
OpenAI kicking off ads with rate-card CPM deals is dumb and will fail, and analogous to @perplexity_ai 's failed experiment in the same. Fidji and her former FB ads crew surely know this. They'd only be launching this way if there were internal pressure to ‘do something’ about …
@signulll @perplexity_ai You can always get brand dollars to be the first to hit the beaches. It's re-upping those budgets that's hard, particularly without even the ability to measure brand vanity metrics or reach.
I actually guffawed at this. Meta's CPM is not only “sub-$20” but usually closer to like $12 even with targeting layers applied. There is zero proof the ads even work, and I have to imagine they aren't letting advertisers in on the targeting or conversion tracking side of thing…
This is laughable. — OpenAI is reportedly targeting CPMs in the realm of $60 for advertising on ChatGPT. — That pricing is well above Meta's sub-$20 CPM and on par with live NFL broadcasts. — In what world do they think advertisers will pay that much? — www.theinformation…