ChatGPT Ads Adds Magnite and PubMatic as Buying Partners

OpenAI has signed deals with Magnite and PubMatic that let advertisers buy ChatGPT ad placements through the two ad-tech platforms, according to The Information, which first reported the agreements on 2 November. They are the first supply-side platforms to join the ChatGPT Ads partner roster.

Through either platform, advertisers can set spending limits, submit bids and upload their ads. An OpenAI spokesperson said the deals make it "easier for advertisers to buy and manage ChatGPT ads through tools they already use." Neither OpenAI, Magnite nor PubMatic has published an announcement.

A Different Kind of Partner

Magnite and PubMatic are supply-side platforms, or SSPs. Publishers use them to sell their ad space, and buyers reach that space through the platforms that connect to them.

That sets this pair apart from everyone OpenAI has signed so far. The partners on OpenAI's buying page are agencies (Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP) and technology partners (Adobe, Criteo, Kargo, Pacvue and StackAdapt). Those partners work for the buyer. An SSP works for the seller, and here the seller is OpenAI, which is now using sell-side software to put its own inventory in front of more buyers.

Delivery stays with OpenAI. Its buying page says partners handle budgeting, bidding and creative, while OpenAI's ads system controls all delivery decisions. The same split applies to the new routes.

Eight Months of Buying Routes

ChatGPT Ads began testing in the US in February with a small group of advertisers buying direct. In March, Criteo became the first ad-tech partner. In May, OpenAI opened its self-serve Ads Manager in beta alongside cost-per-click bidding.

Scale followed. In September, OpenAI said the business had passed a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate. In October, it opened to third-party measurement partners.

Later that month, OpenAI said over 100,000 advertisers had run campaigns on ChatGPT, as ads expanded to 89 countries. That post named "buying options" as part of the next phase of growth. The Magnite and PubMatic deals are the first new buying routes reported since that post.

What Changes for Advertisers

Until now, an advertiser needed an account in Ads Manager, an agency relationship or a seat with one of the named technology partners to buy ChatGPT ads. For programmatic teams that already run spend through Magnite or PubMatic, the deals bring ChatGPT inventory closer to the stack they use for the rest of the open web.

PubMatic already has a foothold in this kind of inventory. It describes itself as Kontext's first SSP integration, a partnership built to let advertisers buy ads inside AI chatbots through programmatic workflows. With ChatGPT added, it now sits on both sides of AI-assistant advertising: independent chatbot publishers and OpenAI.

The audience limits have not moved. Ads still appear only on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans, and Plus, Pro and Enterprise remain ad-free. OpenAI says its ads are labelled, kept separate from ChatGPT's answers and do not influence them.

None of the three companies has said when the routes open to all of its buyers, or whether pricing through an SSP differs from Ads Manager.