ChatGPT is preparing to integrate advertising into its app and change the conversational AI model

The era of AI assistants with no trace of ads seems to be coming to an end. ChatGPT, until now associated with a clean experience and no direct commercial impacts, is preparing to make a major shift in its business model with the integration of advertising formats into its Android application.

After years of relying primarily on the paid subscriptions and access to the developer APIThe clues found in test versions of the app indicate that OpenAI has stepped on the gas to turn ChatGPT into a platform also supported by advertising, closer to traditional web models.

What has the ChatGPT beta for Android revealed?

The trigger for this whole debate was not an official announcement, but the work of those who analyze the development versions of the app. The ChatGPT Android 1.2025.329 beta update contains very clear references to new advertising features.This suggests that the infrastructure for displaying ads is already in an advanced stage.

Among the elements detected in the code are terms such as “ads feature”, “bazaar content”, “search ad” and “search ads carousel”These names point to a system capable of displaying search ads, possibly in carousel format, integrated directly into the assistant's interface or the results it returns.

Developer Tibor Blaho was one of the first to make these internal strings public, sharing screenshots of the code on X (formerly Twitter). The references appear to be associated with certain "searchable" queries.This fits with the idea that not all conversations will generate advertising, but only those that are more like a conventional search for information, products, or services.

Meanwhile, other users have claimed to have already seen Display ads being tested within the interfaceThese were placed directly below the chatbot's responses. One example described an advertisement featuring an image of a water bottle and the text "find a fitness class," accompanied by a reference to Peloton. While these were very limited trials, they reinforce the impression that internal testing has moved from theory to practice.

How and where would ads appear on ChatGPT?

Based on what can be deduced from the technical references, The first wave of advertising would focus on the in-app search experience.That is, when the user uses ChatGPT as if it were a search engine to find information, compare products, or ask for recommendations.

In that context, the ads could be displayed as Promoted results integrated into the response Or they could be presented as separate carousels, but within the same conversation flow. This would be a similar approach to sponsored links in traditional search engines, but adapted to natural language.

For now, everything indicates that these tests will They would limit the free version of ChatGPT to a subset of users.Even so, if the experiment works well, nothing would prevent OpenAI from extending this logic to other parts of the service or to other platforms, such as the web version or the iOS app.

Behind expressions like “bazaar content” lies a catalog of promotional content that could appear contextually depending on the query. The line between helpful recommendation and paid advertisement risks becoming more blurred. if sponsored messages are not clearly marked.

This scheme fits with a broader movement in the industry: both OpenAI and other players in the sector are trying to keep the user within their own environmentpreventing users from constantly jumping to external pages. Advertising integrated into the conversation thus becomes a natural extension of this ecosystem closure strategy.

Economic pressure and the need for a new revenue model

The decision to introduce advertising did not come out of nowhere. Despite its enormous global visibility, ChatGPT is not yet considered a fully profitable businessMaintaining advanced conversational AI models in operation requires data centers, specialized chips, and a very high volume of energy and personnel.

Various estimates suggest that The company needs to invest billions of euros in the coming years to continue training more powerful models and maintain the current infrastructure. Subscriptions and pay-per-use API fees help, but they don't seem sufficient to sustain that rate of growth and scaling in the long term.

In that context, the existence of a user base that already exceeds 800 million active people every week This makes ChatGPT a potential advertising giant. The service processes billions of messages a day, which translates to a flow of queries and data that many traditional ad platforms can only dream of.

For OpenAI, leverage some of that traffic to generate recurring revenue through advertising It's almost a necessary move if it wants to reduce its reliance on funding rounds and strategic partnerships with large companies. The integration of payment gateways, such as the recent foray into e-commerce with PayPal, is seen as another complementary step toward the same goal: monetizing the conversation.

The company's financial management has insisted that Advertising could be introduced without negatively impacting the experienceprovided it is carefully designed. But the question of whether it is truly possible to maintain the perceived neutrality of the service remains.

Risks to user experience, trust, and neutrality

Until now, much of ChatGPT's appeal lay in the fact that The user felt they were talking to an AI with no direct commercial interests.There were no banners, no promoted links, and no messages clearly disguised as commercial recommendations.

The arrival of advertisements opens a different scenario: Some responses might start to include sponsored suggestionsAnd certain recommendations might prioritize commercial agreements over strict user benefit. Even with labels like “advertisement” or “sponsored,” simply mixing editorial and advertising content can erode trust.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had already warned in the past that The introduction of advertising would have to be done with "extreme care"The company does not declare itself against ads, but is aware that a clumsy or overly aggressive integration could provoke rejection and an exodus of users to alternatives or ad-free paid plans, should they be offered.

The underlying issue goes beyond whether or not you see a banner: if the model starts to adjust some of its responses to accommodate commercial interestsThe perception of impartiality would be called into question. For many users, the line between an honest answer and a recommendation inflated by an advertising agreement is particularly fine.

The conversation with an AI that was perceived as "on your side" can become an experience more like that of a commercial search engine, where the user learns to distrust the first results by default. This shift in perception could profoundly alter how millions of people interact with the tool.

A delicate transition for users and regulators

Within the company itself, the strategy also appears to be fraught with tension. Internal reports suggest that Sam Altman even proposed a "code red" to prioritize improving the model compared to initiatives such as advertising, which suggests that the balance between developing core technology and exploring new revenue streams is not simple.

Meanwhile, OpenAI would have been testing different types of ads, including those related to online shoppingwithout making it public in detail. This gap between what is tested internally and what is communicated openly fuels the feeling that the debate about advertising on ChatGPT is largely taking place behind the backs of the end user.

For European regulators and data protection authorities, OpenAI's move will be a case study. The way ads are labeled, the degree of personalization allowed, and the clarity of user controls They will make the difference between an acceptable model and a potentially problematic one.

From the user's perspective, what's at stake is not just whether a banner will appear from time to time, but Will conversations with AI continue to be perceived as a neutral helping space? or as just another showcase. Many accept that a service of this type cannot be free forever, but they demand transparency: to know when, how, and why it stops being free.

Everything suggests that the next big battle in the field of conversational artificial intelligence will not be fought solely on improving models or who answers a complex question best, but on How to integrate advertising without undermining trustThe way OpenAI manages this transition will set a precedent for the rest of the industry and, incidentally, for how we navigate, shop, and stay informed through AI in Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world.

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Alberto navarro

I am a technology enthusiast who has turned his "geek" interests into a profession. I have spent more than 10 years of my life using cutting-edge technology and tinkering with all kinds of programs out of pure curiosity. Now I have specialized in computer technology and video games. This is because for more than 5 years I have been writing for various websites on technology and video games, creating articles that seek to give you the information you need in a language that is understandable to everyone.

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