ChatGPT's ad platform reaches 60,000 advertisers while missing revenue targets

OpenAI expanded ChatGPT's advertising offering to over 60,000 advertisers as of early October, up from roughly 20,000 in late August, but the platform is projected to miss its $2.4 billion advertising revenue target for 2026, according to research partner Dan Salmon and reporting from The Information. The company has lowered barriers to entry—dropping the $200,000 minimum commitment, adding self-service buying, expanding to 60+ countries, and reducing click costs to $5 compared with $30–$50 for similar Google ads—but advertiser growth hasn't yet translated to sustained spending. OpenAI is building out measurement partnerships, testing visual ads alongside image results, and piloting Sponsored Agents that let users chat with branded AI before landing on a website, attempting to move ChatGPT closer to a full ad platform; however, the revenue shortfall suggests most of the 60,000 advertisers are running inexpensive experiments rather than committing serious budget.