"Three days before the first ads were set to appear inside ChatGPT, the marketers testing them received a brief update: the launch date had shifted from Feb. 6 to Feb. 9. No explanation came with it - just a scheduling change from a company still working out how openly it wants to talk about becoming an ads business. The timing raised eyebrows."
"The same day OpenAI notified marketers about that shift, rival Anthropic began running a brand marketing campaign during its Super Bowl slot, taking aim at the idea of chatbots selling ad space - an unsubtle critique. For some marketers, OpenAI's delay looked less like a technical adjustment and more like optics management: let the noise pass, then proceed. Now, a month after OpenAI announced said ads were coming on Jan. 16, that abrupt switch reads as instructive."
"Each step forward is not only about building an ad business but about shaping how that business is understood by users from the outlet. It's a communication exercise as much as a monetization strategy. Get it wrong and the downside won't be limited to ad revenue. It risks eroding the trust of its 800 million user base and, by extension, usage."
OpenAI delayed the initial ChatGPT ad rollout shortly before launch, signaling careful optics management around becoming an advertising business. Rival Anthropic used a Super Bowl campaign to criticize chatbots selling ad space, intensifying scrutiny and influencing perceptions. OpenAI provided detailed guidelines to test advertisers, urging them to present ads as user value and to submit public communications for review. The company framed the rollout as both monetization and a communications exercise, stressing that poorly implemented ads could erode trust across an 800 million user base and reduce overall usage.
Read at Digiday
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