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 Message 2024 
 Mike Powell to All 
 The era of ads in ChatGPT 
 04 Dec 25 10:25:14 
 
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The era of ads in ChatGPT begins  users furious as even $200 a month Pro
subscribers hit with app suggestions

Date:
Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:18:14 +0000

Description:
OpenAI has started testing app suggestions inside ChatGPT conversations, and
even $200 a month Pro users are seeing them.

FULL STORY

 ChatGPT users are not happy, and it's pretty easy to see why. Over the
weekend, OpenAI quietly started testing app suggestions inside chats, and
theyre already showing up for people who pay $200 every month for the Pro
tier. The thing is, these "ads" aren't anything new, but they do point to a
worrying future. 

The moment the first screenshot hit social media, the backlash was instant,
and while there hasn't been a full announcement from OpenAI yet, the company
might need to backtrack if it wants to keep its most loyal user base. 

If youre paying premium money for an AI assistant, the last thing you want is
something that looks and feels like an ad popping up mid-conversation, and 
the worrying thing is, it's just the beginning.

Kol Tregaskes took to X to share his frustrations, showcasing a screenshot of
a ChatGPT Pro subscription with an app suggestion to "Find a fitness class"
using Peloton. In the example, the user wasn't asking AI about Peloton, and
the app suggestion had no relevance to the conversation. 

This image comes just a few days after a leak suggested OpenAI was working on
implementing ads following the discovery of text in the ChatGPT app. In the
Android version of the world's most popular chatbot, a user found hidden code
that refers to an "ads feature", some "bazaar content", a "search ad", and a
"search ads carousel". 

You could argue that ads in ChatGPT were to be expected, especially for users
on the Free tier, but in no world should someone paying $200 a month
experience adverts, and to be honest, neither should ChatGPT Plus subscribers
paying $20 either.

The backlash 

On Reddit, users are not happy with these ads that have popped up seemingly
out of nowhere. One user said, "The ads thing is pretty b******t. I might 
just cancel my Pro subscription." 

Another added, "I have been seeing ads as a pro user for at least 2 to 3 days
now. (UK user, so it may be region-specific at the moment)." 

One user chose to clarify that these "ads" have been visible for a while now,
"ChatGPT is not showing ads. I imagine this refers to this instance in which
Pro users received app connection suggestions, but that is not new. If you 
are a designer, you may receive a Canva app connection suggestion, sure. But
what people understand as ads is not this, and this is not new this week. 
What has been new is the leak showing OpenAI was preparing the actual ad
rollout, but we have not seen it in practice." 

While user sami_exploring is correct in their assessment of the situation,
many still believe showcasing content unrelated to your prompts for companies
is indeed an advertisement. We're not 100% sure how the full ChatGPT ad
rollout will look, or if OpenAI will decide to go ahead with it completely.
But one thing's sure, it's not looking good for ChatGPT subscribers, and 
let's hope the inclusion of ads doesn't start a ripple effect across the 
whole AI landscape. 

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/chatgpt/the-era-of-ads-in-ch
atgpt-begins-users-furious-as-even-usd200-a-month-pro-subscribers-hit-with-app
-suggestions

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