OpenAI shifts ChatGPT ads to cost-per-click as $60 CPM erodes in ten weeks and ad revenue targets hit $2.5 billion

OpenAI has pivoted ChatGPT's advertising model from CPM to cost-per-click (CPC), with bids set at $3–$5 per click, after the initial $60 CPM launch price collapsed to as low as $25 within ten weeks. The minimum advertiser spend was also cut from $250,000 to $50,000. OpenAI projects $2.5 billion in ad revenue for 2026, scaling to $100 billion by 2030, as it faces $14 billion in projected losses this year. The shift puts OpenAI in direct competition with Google and Meta for performance ad budgets. Meanwhile, Anthropic and Perplexity are positioning themselves as explicitly ad-free alternatives, with Anthropic running Super Bowl ads attacking ChatGPT's ad decision and seeing an 11% jump in daily active users. Privacy concerns persist, as contextual ad targeting requires OpenAI to internally analyze conversation content. A boycott campaign called QuitGPT has gathered over 200,000 sign-ups.