Ad fatigue is eating ChatGPT's growth, and OpenAI is doubling down on ads anyway. The company hit $100 million in advertising revenue from ChatGPT and is rolling out a self-serve Ads Manager dashboard this month, according to the Ad-Hoc News report on the launch. Over 600 advertisers are already on the platform, which now offers cost-per-click ads that appear within ChatGPT's conversational responses. The self-serve tool gives advertisers real-time campaign control, replacing the previous export-only reporting that required sales team involvement. The ad ramp comes at an awkward moment. Sensor Tower data, cited by The Verge, shows ChatGPT uninstalls jumped 132% year-over-year in April and 413% in March, the latter largely tied to public backlash over OpenAI's Pentagon partnership.
Monthly active user growth has cratered from 168% in January to 78% in April.
Ads may be accelerating the exodus. By late April, nearly 14% of ChatGPT users were seeing ads, up from just 1% in March, per Android Headlines reporting on Sensor Tower data. That spike correlates with declining time spent in the app, suggesting users are fleeing to cleaner alternatives. Rival Claude has seen an 11x increase in downloads over the same period. The financial stakes are high. OpenAI recently missed internal targets for new users and revenue, sparking concerns among CFO Sarah Friar and other executives about covering future computing costs, according to The Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI is reportedly exploring a lower-priced "ChatGPT Go" plan at $8 per month to boost subscribers, alongside the ad push. The self-serve Ads Manager targets small to mid-sized U.S. businesses in e-commerce, SaaS, and consumer services.
OpenAI plans to test expansions into Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but the U.S. remains the core market generating the bulk of current ad revenue. The platform currently reaches fewer than 20% of eligible free and Go tier users daily, with about 85% of users eligible for ads overall.
OpenAI's ad business is growing, but it risks monetizing users out the door.
