I didn't realize ChatGPT was serving ads until I dug into how it actually works
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OpenAI has been quietly rolling out ads to ChatGPT's free and lower-tier users, first in the US and now expanding to several other countries. A reverse-engineering analysis reveals that ads are delivered through the same streaming connection as model responses, arriving as structured objects with advertiser names, images, and URLs hosted on OpenAI's CDN. Clicking an ad embeds encrypted tokens in the destination URL, which are then written into first-party cookies and reported back to OpenAI, creating a full attribution loop. OpenAI's updated privacy policy acknowledges receiving purchase data from advertisers and sharing limited user identifiers with marketing partners. While paid subscribers remain ad-free and conversation data isn't sold, the subtler privacy implications remain in a grey area. Users concerned about privacy can consider local AI models as an alternative.
