OpenAI is not content with just building a chatbot anymore. The company is developing an advertising platform. This week, it has announced a number of updates to increase performance marketers’ confidence in the quality of its conversions. The company has also improved its measurement solutions and announced the launch of ChatGPT Ads in two new countries.
Among the updates is the introduction of conversion optimized bidding. The company has also announced expanded measurement partnerships, smarter pixel diagnostics and the new carousel ad format. Overall, the updates suggest that OpenAI is positioning itself as a serious player in performance marketing.
Conversion Optimized Bidding Arrives in Beta
The first significant change in the product is that product feed campaigns now support optimized cost per click, also known as oCPC. This essentially means that advertisers can choose to optimize for conversions while continuing to pay per click. The difference is that the system will be doing the work of finding the most suitable prospects based on its understanding of how each person is going to act instead of relying on the general rule of thumb.
The value of this update is that advertisers continue to get the benefits of oCPC, which is an optimization method they already know and understand. Meanwhile, the company does not force them into the cost per acquisition, or CPA, paradigm right away, which could have been a problem if one has to manage budgets strictly at the campaign level, as is the case with CPA. This could be a smart way of getting customers comfortable with the interface while still introducing a useful update.
Another interesting change has to do with the ability to clone existing cost per click, or CPC, campaigns into oCPC ones or create multiple oCPC campaigns in one go. This could be useful for larger advertisers who may have dozens of product feed campaigns running at any given time, so being able to set up multiple campaigns at once would save considerable time compared to setting them up individually.
Dynamic URL Parameters Make Attribution Easier
In addition to improving the bidding system, OpenAI now lets you use variables within a link to automatically insert campaign, ad group, and ad IDs in your destination URLs for the purposes of tracking.
This is a significant change, especially for people who have spent hours and hours on end setting up UTM parameters across dozens of campaigns, ad groups, and ads. Automatic tag insertion helps ensure the proper analytics without having to worry about a person accidentally entering an ID in the wrong campaign, ad group, or ad. It also takes away the hassle of manually setting up a complex spreadsheet tracking system for all campaigns, ad groups, and ads for whoever reviews the analytics later on.
A Bigger Push Into Measurement
If the bidding update is all about performance, the measurement updates are about proving that the performance actually happened. OpenAI has made a number of additions to its measurement ecosystem this week.
The new integrations aim to help prove ROI from ChatGPT Ads spend against other marketing channels, improve the learning for the bidding algorithms and provide more first party data options for advertisers.
Advertisers using Triple Whale (an attribution and analytics platform) can now install the measurement partner’s connector and begin measuring performance of ChatGPT Ads alongside other channels.
Sonar Optimize integration now enables stronger conversion signals to be sent back to OpenAI, helping the bid model to learn and perform better over time. And finally, Hightouch now supports conversion event tracking directly into ChatGPT Ads.
Ads Manager also got additional diagnostic-specific pixel validation support this week, with more detail being provided when a conversion event has been disallowed, and recommendations on how to resolve the issue if possible. For teams that spend hours speculating over why exactly a pixel wasn’t fired, these changes should be particularly useful.
Automatic Advanced Matching Becomes the Default
Perhaps the most widespread change will be related to Automatic Advanced Matching, or AAM. Starting right now, AAM will become the default setting for all new web pixels, with advanced matching automatically turned on for existing pixels on August 17th, unless the advertiser opted out.
Advanced matching, in general, and especially its automatic version, should increase the number of matched conversions, closing some of the attribution gaps that have held marketers back from embracing new ad tech. The fact that OpenAI made this the default setting signals confidence in the method’s effectiveness. It is important to note, however, that advertisers that are not interested in using the automatic advanced matching have the option to opt out before the aforementioned deadline.
It goes without saying that any company that wishes to remain compliant with the relevant personal data protection regulations will have to take a closer look at the new defaults and, if necessary, adjust their preferences by the specified date.
Carousel Ads and Two New Markets
OpenAI is also testing a multi-product carousel format for product feed campaigns, with an emphasis on multiple products per ad unit – a common multiproduct view that is seen on other major ecommerce-first ad platforms. For retailers with diverse product catalogs, being able to show multiple goods in one ad placement – as opposed to one product per unit – can be a welcome change and increase effectiveness.
Furthermore, OpenAI has announced plans to launch ChatGPT Ads in Brazil and Mexico later this week. This will allow the ad platform to enter the Latin American market and satisfy regional demand from advertisers, who have sought more alternatives to the dominant ad tech providers in the area.
Why This Batch of Updates Matters
None of these features exist in isolation. Taken together they strongly suggest a pattern: OpenAI is building the plumbing that performance marketers care about, delivering more flexible, powerful, and scalable auction mechanisms (better bidding), more robust measurement and attribution (better measurement), and more uniform data and formats (better data).
For marketers who have been cautious in their engagement with ChatGPT advertising, these updates represent an important response to the most common concerns. Conversion based bidding gives the platform a clear objective to optimize toward, better measurement addresses the challenge of evaluating whether that optimization is working, and automatic advanced matching helps resolve some of the attribution concerns in a newer marketplace.
The growth in Brazil and Mexico is also noteworthy. It suggests that OpenAI is not only focused on improving the product for the existing markets but is also interested in penetrating new ones where advertising can reach ChatGPT users.
What Advertisers Should Do Now
For teams already running product feed campaigns in ChatGPT Ads, the oCPC beta is well worth trying, especially for advertisers with high-quality conversion pixels already set up. Remember, you can clone existing campaigns or use the bulk creation tool – there’s no need to build everything from scratch.
Anyone planning to use web pixels or already using them should take note – August 17th is an important date. As you may know, Automatic Advanced Matching will be turned on for existing pixels by default, so advertisers who want to opt-out need to do it before the deadline.
Last but not least, keep an eye out for the carousel format, which is currently in testing for product feed campaigns. Multiple product placements are great for showcasing a catalog and are well suited for browsing sessions. Getting comfortable with the format ahead of time will give you an edge over competitors.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI is doubling down on performance advertising as a growth opportunity. With conversion optimized bidding, expanded measurement partnerships, sharper diagnostics, default advanced matching, and a new carousel ad format, this update covers all the key performance marketing touch points. Paired with the expected launch in Brazil and Mexico, it is a clear signal that OpenAI wants to gain significant share of advertisers’ performance marketing budgets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is oCPC and why does it matter for ChatGPT Ads?
Conversion optimized cost per click is a new way for advertisers to bid on product feed campaigns while focusing on conversions and paying per click. This feature allows advertisers to use algorithm driven optimization without switching to a cost per acquisition bidding model.
Q2: Will all advertisers be able to use oCPC?
For now, only some advertisers will be able to use it as it is in beta. OpenAI has not said when oCPC will be available to the rest of their users.
Q3: How will advertisers be able to use existing campaigns with oCPC?
Advertisers can clone existing CPC campaigns into oCPC campaigns or create many oCPC campaigns at once to migrate their existing accounts to oCPC easily.
Q4: What are dynamic URL parameters?
They are parameters that automatically tag landing page URLs with their campaign, ad group, and ad IDs for easier tracking and analysis instead of manually adding tracking parameters.
Q5: What new measurement integrations did OpenAI announce?
They announced Triple Whale, Sonar Optimize, and Hightouch measurement tool support to let advertisers track and analyze ChatGPT Ads performance and send conversion data back to the platform.
Q6: What is Automatic Advanced Matching and when will it be available?
Automatic Advanced Matching (AAM) is a feature that matches website visitors and conversions to an advertiser’s campaigns using hashed customer data. It is the default matching method for new web pixels, and it will automatically be turned on for existing pixels on August 17 unless advertisers choose otherwise.
Q7: Can advertisers turn off Automatic Advanced Matching?
Yes, this feature can be turned off by those who do not want it enabled on their existing pixels before August 17.
Q8: What is the new carousel ad format?
It is a new multiple product carousel that is being tested for product feed campaigns to show several products in one ad instead of making separate ads for each product.
Q9: In which new markets will ChatGPT Ads be available soon?
The company announced that the ads feature would be rolling out in Brazil and Mexico later this week.
Q10: What should advertisers focus on after the latest update?
They should consider testing the new oCPC beta if they have existing conversion tracking set up, make sure their Automatic Advanced Matching preferences are set correctly, and be on the look out for the new carousel format if they have many products that require ads.
