ChatGPT Launches Advertising in Israel, Expanding Global Rollout

OpenAI has officially launched advertising within ChatGPT for users in Israel, marking a significant expansion of its advertising platform. Israeli users have begun receiving notifications about updated privacy policies that accommodate the introduction of ads on free tiers of the service. These advertisements will appear separately from ChatGPT's responses and will be contextually relevant to the ongoing conversation.

The advertising system in ChatGPT differs from traditional search engines like Google. Instead of relying on precise keywords, advertisers provide general "context hints" to indicate the types of conversations where they wish their ads to appear. The system then matches these hints with user conversations and history to rank ads based on relevance and a bidding model. Advertisers do not see user conversation content or identifying details, nor do they control the exact timing of ad display. Ads are clearly marked as "Sponsored" and are presented below the organic AI-generated response, ensuring they do not influence the core content of ChatGPT's answers.

OpenAI emphasizes that ad personalization is based solely on information within ChatGPT, such as conversation context or previous ad clicks, and does not share external data. Advertisers receive only general performance metrics like impressions and clicks. Safeguards are in place, including options for users to disable personalization and review why specific ads are shown. Ads are prohibited for users under 18, and sensitive topics like medical and political advertising are banned. Ads are also blocked entirely if a conversation indicates distress or crisis.

The advertising feature, first announced in January 2026, underwent a limited pilot in the US in February 2026, followed by broader beta testing that included Israeli companies like Natural Intelligence and monday.com. By April 2026, approximately 20% of responses in commercial categories featured ads, with financial categories added in May. The service has since expanded geographically to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, India, and the European Union. With Israel's inclusion in September 2026, OpenAI is reportedly already surpassing a $1 billion annual revenue run rate from advertising, just six months after its initial launch.

Israeli digital advertising company Natural Intelligence, which operates comparison sites like Top10.com and BestMoney, is among the early major advertisers on the platform. Hila Gil, VP of Marketing at Natural Intelligence, described the arrival of ChatGPT advertising in Israel as "happening faster than expected" and highlighted conversational advertising as a "new layer in the consumer journey." She noted that the Israeli advertising market now has a "rare opportunity to enter the channel at an early stage." Ofri Tubul Cohen, founder and CEO of Whitebox, suggested that AI-driven search advertising could represent the "biggest change in digital advertising since the rise of Google Search," shifting the model from keywords to intent and context within conversational interfaces.