OpenAI Launches Self-Service Ads Manager in France

OpenAI launches self-service ChatGPT Ads in Europe, including France, with no spending threshold. Bids remain low, with a market CPC between $3 and $5. In Europe, the measure remains limited, and targeting begins without personalization.

Low Bids, Claimed Annualized Revenue, and Initial Limits

According to OpenAI, its advertising platform could generate an annualized revenue of $1 billion in less than 200 days, thanks to tens of thousands of advertisers. This estimate is a projection and does not reflect actual revenue generated. The company specifies that the majority of campaigns use CPC or goal-optimized bidding, and claims more than 50 technology and measurement partners. For French advertisers, Pei Zhang (fifty-five) mentions a still-new inventory, low bids, and a market cost per click between $3 and $5. Two main limitations are noted: the absence of native connectors to CRMs, making attribution imprecise, and, in Europe, targeting without personalization. Targeting relies solely on the ongoing conversation and limited contextual information, without using past conversations or user memory. OpenAI presents ChatGPT Ads as a means to provide useful and relevant information to users.

Scope, Eligibility, and End of the Entry Ticket

The beta of the self-service Ads Manager is now accessible to eligible advertisers in 31 European markets where the platform operates, including France. OpenAI announced this deployment "starting today" in India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, in a statement dated August 31. Access remains restricted to advertisers in authorized categories and to creatives that comply with OpenAI's advertising rules, while purchasing through agencies or technology partners remains possible. The initial engagement threshold of $200,000, which was lowered to $50,000, has been removed. Until August 24, access was through OpenAI's sales teams or six groups (Publicis, WPP, Omnicom, MediaPlus, Havas, and dentsu). According to Pei Zhang, there is no longer an entry threshold or mandatory intermediary for a French startup or SME. A company can open an account, add a payment method, and launch its campaign. Dave Dugan, VP Global Ad Solutions at OpenAI, describes this step as a "new chapter" for advertising.

Account Creation, Objectives, and Conversational Tools

Registration takes place at ads.openai.com, with verification of the business and addition of a payment method. The platform structure includes three tiers: campaign, ad group, and then ad. Targeting relies on contextual cues related to the targeted conversations, rather than keywords. Two types of objectives are available: reach, billed at CPM, and clicks, billed at CPC, with no minimum budget requirement. For conversion tracking, a pixel and a Conversions API are used. OpenAI also offers a ChatGPT Ads Manager application integrated into ChatGPT, allowing users to create ads, manage their account, view performance metrics, and review campaigns in a conversational mode. A dedicated plugin is also available for more conversational management.