The expansion of ads brings a simple question into the conversation: what is a recommendation, and what is paid placement?
Imagine asking ChatGPT to help you choose a graphics card. You explain your budget, which games you usually play and why you do not want to replace your computer’s power supply. Each detail makes the conversation more useful. Those same details can also help an advertising system decide which ad to show.
This is the setting in which OpenAI is expanding its advertising business. On 21 October, the company announced its arrival in another 26 countries, bringing the total to 89. Brazil was already on the list. According to the announcement, ads appear on the Free and Go plans; Plus, Pro and Enterprise remain ad-free.
The news deserves more attention than the country count alone. That same day, OpenAI explained the architecture that selects ads. A separate model follows the context of the conversation, looks for relevant ads and participates in the selection process. If the user opts into personalisation, non-sensitive information from previous conversations can also inform that choice.
According to the company, this system operates separately from the one that writes responses. Ads are labelled as sponsored, and OpenAI says it neither sells customers’ data nor gives their conversations to advertisers. These are the rules and architecture described by the company, not the findings of an independent audit by Mais FPS.
Back to the graphics card. An assistant explaining that a particular model fits your budget is one thing. A retailer paying to appear alongside that conversation is another. Even when both pieces of information are relevant, they arrive there through different processes. An ad’s placement alone does not show that the offer won a comparison of price, performance or quality.
That distinction needs to remain clear in everyday use. Someone asking a question generally wants to sort out a purchase, not study how the platform works. A clear label helps; a presentation that makes advertising look like a natural continuation of the advice can make it harder to tell the two apart.
Advertising can fund cheaper access to the service. That does not remove the responsibility to make it obvious where the commercial message begins. The more personal and persuasive a conversation becomes, the more important that signposting is.
The test for the user is simple: after receiving a recommendation, can they explain why that product appeared? Because it meets their request, because someone paid for the space, or both? ChatGPT can continue helping people shop. Advertising needs to remain recognisable as advertising.
Conceptual illustration: Mais FPS, created with AI.
