OpenAI announced it will expand ChatGPT ads to five new markets: the UK, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico. The pilot has been running in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand since February.
Australian advertisers already have access. The question is whether they are using it.
Monthly ad spend across the platform has hit $109 million globally. OpenAI is forecasting $2.5 billion in ad revenue by end of 2026. Dave Dugan, head of global ads solutions at OpenAI, described the expansion as reaching users in a "conversational, intent-driven environment."
That framing matters. OpenAI is not positioning ChatGPT ads as display or social. It is positioning them as intent media, closer to search than anything else in the market.
Average monthly ad spend on ChatGPT ads globally, with a $2.5 billion full-year target
The expansion to five markets in one move is faster than anyone expected. OpenAI launched the self-serve ads manager for all US advertisers only days before announcing the international rollout. The speed suggests the early results from the pilot justified aggressive scaling.
For context, Google took years to roll out search ads globally. Meta took over a year to expand its ad platform beyond the US. OpenAI is doing it in months.
The catch is that ChatGPT's ad format is still limited. Ads appear alongside responses in specific contexts, primarily when users are researching products, services or solutions. There is no audience targeting in the Meta sense. Instead, ads are matched to the intent of the query, which means creative and offer relevance matter more than demographic targeting.
Why it matters
Australia is already in the pilot, which means Australian advertisers can start testing now. Most have not. The early-mover advantage in a new ad channel is real and it does not last. When Google Ads launched, the businesses that tested early locked in low CPCs for years before the market caught up.
ChatGPT's 200 million weekly active users represent a meaningful audience. The question for Australian businesses is whether their target customer is among them. For B2B, SaaS, professional services and high-consideration purchases, the answer is almost certainly yes.
