Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
ChatGPT is Going to Start Showing You Ads
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
the way they're leaking money, it's all hands on deck to monetize, monetize, monetize at OpenAI
It's really sad but we live in a world where if a service or platform can feed you Ads it will.
OpenAI appears to be gearing up to introduce ads in ChatGPT, presumably for users who don't pay to access the chatbot.
Engineer Tibor Blaho recently found references to upcoming ad functionality in the ChatGPT Android app. Code strings mention search ads, a search ad carousel, and an ad API. Though ad mentions were found in the Android app, it's likely a change that's coming to ChatGPT on all platforms, including iOS, Mac, and the desktop.
Given the "search" wording, it's possible ads will be limited to web searches and shopping research requests.
Access to ChatGPT starts at $20 per month for the Plus plan, with a ChatGPT Pro plan available for $200 per month with higher access limits. There are also business and education plans, along with the current free plan. In other countries, OpenAI offers a cheaper "Go" plan that could also expand to the United States when ads roll out.
There have been rumors that OpenAI plans to gradually raise the price of ChatGPT access, and a plan restructuring with an ad-supported tier seems like the ideal time to make pricing changes.
As noted by Search Engine Land, OpenAI executives have been changing their messaging around ads over the course of the last 12 months. In late 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said ads were a "last resort," but in early 2025, leaked internal forecasts included $1 billion in "free user monetization" revenue in 2026. Earlier this year, Altman said that he loved Instagram ads and felt they were valuable. He said he thought OpenAI could find "some cool product ad" that's a "net win to the user."
Article Link: ChatGPT is Going to Start Showing You Ads
As soon as Chat GPT starts ads, I'll move to Gemini (until they do the same thing)
Hopefully by then Apple Intelligence will be ready thanks to their deal with Google to use Gemini Models of which I don't think Apple would do Ads with Siri 2.0.
Apple have already burned through most of their customer goodwill with Apple Intelligence.
They simply need to deliver it and move on.
Adding a chargeable or free Ad supported tier would destroy any of their potential user base and by being the only AI assistant where it will never serve you ads might be Apple's last chance to have a decent user base given their mess ups with Apple Intelligence has pushed most Apple Users (who want AI features) to third parties.
And the rest of their users either don't know what Apple Intelligence is and or just don't care.
The problem is even when a product does make money and a profit, adding adds allows them to make more money and profit.
Basically if the government could be paid by companies to push ads directly into our dreams and minds they would do it.
This makes me think of that Futurama Episode where Fry had a dream which was an Ad, it was made years ago but the writers were on the ball with where we'd end up.
You got some downvotes here, but know what? I agree, at least on the user side of this table. There’s no free lunch.
On the Ads side, I do wonder if the ads will be better… YouTube for example is appalling at how intrusive, badly timed and out of touch it is with them. It doesn’t make me want to buy anything, it makes me hate the product or the company or the grifter selling whatever they are selling, with all my guts.
Plus, aren’t they supposed to have had all the data, behaviors and patterns of everyone everywhere? If I have recently bought a car, the darn thing doesn’t realize that I don’t need one but still pushes for (read in graspy thick male ad voice): “the new big pick up truck, with the lug nut. This is the new pick up truuuuuck”.
If ChatGPT gets ads I do wonder how the experience will be.
This is a sign that:
- We are in an AI bubble; they're using a last-resort to make revenue the oldest way of monetising anything, ads
- This is the start of the decline of ChatGPT; because people use it due to its "authenticity" or no-bias
It's different than Google search function, so ads is not a complimentary business model. It just reads desperation to show the revenue to investors
- We are in an AI bubble; they're using a last-resort to make revenue the oldest way of monetising anything, ads
- This is the start of the decline of ChatGPT; because people use it due to its "authenticity" or no-bias
It's different than Google search function, so ads is not a complimentary business model. It just reads desperation to show the revenue to investors
Deep Seek basically destroys this whole argument. It’s free and thats what most users will be more than satisfied with. They have a paid version for those that want more but for the general casual person the free version will be more than enough, no ads and open sourced. Just look at google, by making products free they won, AI that charges wont win against a free one even if the free one is not as advanced.
After they released GPT 5 I gave up on using ChatGPT. The experience keeps getting worse and I actually used to love it. Right now for me it’s horrible. I have Gemini Pro with the student discount at zero dollars for a year and I just can’t click with it although Nano Banana and the video stuff are amazing. That said I’m using Claude now and for personal and professional use it’s the best for me at the moment.
Advertisers are going to LOVE this stuff.
Integration right into the flow with no way to block or stop it…probably always disguised within the answers.
Absolute mass manipulation at scale.
As dystopian as it gets.
Going all in on this tech is an enormous mistake.
Integration right into the flow with no way to block or stop it…probably always disguised within the answers.
Absolute mass manipulation at scale.
As dystopian as it gets.
Going all in on this tech is an enormous mistake.
Why do you expect to use AI for free? I am surprised that ChatGPT and others are not already using side bar ads or something like it. I think it is more sad where you expect everything to be free just because it is digital. If you think back to the days of pirating movies (yes it still goes on), music, applications and more. People felt like it was victimless because it was digital. It sounds the same with people stating how if they try to monetize something they offer for free then you will jump to the next one. It costs money to develop AI, costs money for servers and computing power. I think if you are not going to pay for the small monthly fee having an ad or two is hardly the end of the world and really gives you the ability to keep using it for free.
It amazes me that some people can't grasp that services cost money to run. Ads help keep the foundation level of services free of charge. As long as they don't get too intrusive then I think there has to be some acceptance. Otherwise just stop being so tight and pay up if you get value from the product.
Sure. Get yourself a MacStudio and you can even run Deepseek locally if you max out the memory. That's about as free as you can get... except you will be getting your answers from Deepseek, which has been built according to the censorship requirements of the Chinese government. Here's a short conversation I just had with deepseek-r1@q5_k_s on my MacStudio:
I really don't like my free answer. Do you? An online version I tried just continually declined to answer instead of giving me the Communist Party line. I actually appreciate the answer my local copy gave me because at least it allows me to infer the source of bias and that I will now expect to run throughout Deepseek, and frankly any AI from China.
BTW, if you don't think Google will eventually make you pay for their AI, you are mistaken. They will serve ads on their free version, just like they do on their "free" search. And they will add all your Gemini queries to your dossier, just like they do for all your web searches. One way or another, the free services will make you pay in some way because at the very least, they want to cover the cost of the electricity it took to answer your query.
"ChatGPT, how do I file my taxes?"
I'd love to help you file your taxes! Before that though, a word from our sponsor!
