In February 2026, OpenAI initiated ad trials for ChatGPT, only to encounter a rather "rushed and disorganized" debut. According to conference call notes released by UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) on February 23, an industry expert overseeing roughly $800 million in digital ad budgets noted that ChatGPT’s ad experience is currently lagging far behind the early performances of industry giants like Google, Meta, and Snapchat. At present, ChatGPT ads have set a hefty minimum spending requirement of $200,000, attracting mainly large-scale advertisers from sectors such as furniture retail, automotive, and luxury goods. However, much of this ad spending stems from corporate trial expenditures and has yet to make a significant dent in Google’s dominance of the search ad market. From a technical standpoint, the ChatGPT ad platform suffers from notable limitations. For instance, it lacks robust performance data tracking capabilities, offers no integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, relies entirely on manual ad placement processes, and employs rather primitive bidding mechanisms. These shortcomings have resulted in some users being served irrelevant ads. When it comes to commercial performance, the Cost Per Mille (CPM) for sponsored recommendation ads on ChatGPT reaches $60—higher than the industry average. Yet, the average conversion rate remains below 0.5%, with a cost per click hovering around $12, posing considerable challenges for Return on Investment (ROI). Experts predict that the ChatGPT ad platform will require 6 to 12 months to refine its basic functionalities and lower the barrier to entry for advertisers. However, to truly challenge Google’s stronghold in the search ad market, it will need to achieve breakthroughs in core capabilities, including precise targeting, automation tools, and comprehensive performance measurement.