Advertising on ChatGPT? There Is a Way Out

August 19, 2026, 6:36 am | Read time: 2 minutes

ChatGPT says goodbye to ad-free browsing: Ads are set to launch in Germany by the end of August. However, those who prefer not to see ads can still chat for free without them.

Ads come to ChatGPT

OpenAI is expanding its advertising business. After tests in the U.S. and other countries, ads will now appear in Germany, France, Ireland, and Singapore, reports “t3n”. The ads will be placed directly under ChatGPT’s responses and labeled as “Sponsored.” The ads users see may depend on the current conversation topic.

For example, someone searching for travel destinations with ChatGPT might see relevant travel offers. General information such as approximate location, language, or device used can also be considered. OpenAI aims to use the revenue to cover the substantial costs of developing new AI models and expanding data centers and computing capacities.

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Free and still ad-free

Those who want to avoid ads do not necessarily need to subscribe to a paid ChatGPT plan. OpenAI plans a free, ad-free version. However, it will have lower usage limits and restrictions on certain features, such as image generation or “Deep Research.”

In the European Union, stricter data protection rules apply. Personalized advertising is initially disabled in Germany. Previous conversations and stored memories are not automatically used to select ads. Users who wish to allow personalized advertising must explicitly consent and can change their decision later.

Ads should not influence responses

The introduction of ads raises the question of whether companies could influence ChatGPT’s responses in the future. OpenAI denies this: Paid ads are not supposed to affect the AI’s responses and will remain clearly separate from the actual chat. Advertisers will also not have access to individual conversations, memories, or personal data.

According to OpenAI, users can hide or report ads and understand why a particular ad is shown to them. A lot of money is at stake for OpenAI: The company is aiming for significant advertising revenue in the long term. However, whether these plans will actually materialize is disputed.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TECHBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@techbook.de.