ChatGPT Ads in Japan: When They Started, the Cost, the Results, and Whether They Change Answers

In June 2026, the system that shows ads inside the AI assistant "ChatGPT" started in Japan too. It targets the free plan and the low-cost "Go" plan; the paid Plus and Pro plans show no ads. Major Japanese advertising firms—Dentsu Digital, Hakuhodo DY ONE, and CyberAgent—are lined up to support advertisers in placing them.

This article organizes, from both the advertiser's and the user's point of view, "when it started in Japan," "how much advertisers pay," "how the ads have performed so far," "whether ads change the answers," and "whether you can turn the ads off." We also look at how competitor Anthropic (maker of the AI assistant "Claude") has flatly said it will not add ads, and why ads are coming to AI in the first place.

When did ChatGPT ads start in Japan?

The Japanese rollout began in June 2026. According to ITmedia and other outlets, three firms—Dentsu Digital, Hakuhodo DY ONE, and CyberAgent—announced on June 18, 2026 that they were joining the ad pilot as domestic launch/research partners working directly with OpenAI, and trial ad display began in Japan on June 19. The Nikkei also reported that Dentsu- and Hakuhodo-affiliated firms broker the in-ChatGPT ad display.

Ads appear for users on the unpaid free plan and the low-cost "Go" plan. The paid Plus and Pro plans show no ads. The familiar "use it for free in exchange for seeing ads" model, well known from TV and web services, has now arrived in AI assistants.

Worldwide, OpenAI had begun testing ads in the United States in February 2026. As stated in OpenAI's announcement and reported by CNBC, it first tried the U.S. and signaled an expansion to several countries, including Japan, in May. This Japan launch follows that plan.

Where and how do the ads appear?

Ads appear within the screen where you interact with ChatGPT. OpenAI says it shows ads clearly distinguished from the AI's answers, with a label indicating the sponsor (advertiser) so they are visually separable from a normal reply. Ads relevant to the conversation's context are expected, but details like the exact banner position and size have not been publicly spelled out so far.

As for the ads that actually began appearing in the U.S., Search Engine Land reported they showed up "more prominently (aggressively) than expected," fueling debate over their appearance. How exactly they will look in Japan is likely to take shape as the trial progresses.

Who can advertise, and how much does it cost?

From here, the advertiser's point of view. ChatGPT ads started as something quite expensive that only a limited set of large players could buy. Lining up the reporting chronologically, the rates and minimum spend have moved sharply in a short time.

"CPM" is the rate per 1,000 impressions; "CPC" is the rate per click. According to Adweek, the launch terms were roughly $60 CPM and a minimum of $200,000—conditions for a small group of large players. Ad holding giants Omnicom, WPP, and Dentsu reportedly lined up brands early. After that, click-based pricing (about $3–5 per click) was added in April and the minimum fell to about $50,000; in May a self-serve Ads Manager beta launched and the minimum spend floor was removed. Some advertisers reportedly saw CPMs as low as $25, and the field is gradually widening from the early "large players only." All figures are press-based approximations that vary with exchange rates and conditions.

In Japan, Dentsu Digital, Hakuhodo DY ONE, and CyberAgent act as the windows and support for placing ads.

How have the ads performed since launch?

What advertisers care about most is "does it work." A few months after the February 2026 launch, the honest assessment is "not bad, but hard to judge." Click-through rates (the share of impressions that get clicked) were reported at roughly 0.8–2.3% depending on the vertical—higher than ordinary banner ads—while one early case came in at 0.91%, reportedly about one-seventh of Google Search ads. Views are split.

The reason it is hard to judge is that the measurement tooling is still immature. Campaign reported it is "still finding its feet, with underwhelming early returns," and there was a period when a glitch in the ad-management tool kept campaign data out of reach, making return-on-investment hard to calculate. With no published industry benchmarks, it is hard to tell whether your own results are good or bad.

On the revenue side, however, OpenAI is reportedly doing well. According to CNBC, the ad business reached $100 million in annualized revenue (ARR) in under two months. Even with mixed advertiser sentiment, the sheer pulling power of "the place" that is heavily used ChatGPT is large.

User questions: do ads change the answers, and is my conversation used?

Now the user's point of view. What worries most people is whether the AI's answers themselves get skewed to favor the advertiser. On this, OpenAI says ads do not influence the content of answers. Ads are framed as a separate slot, shown with a sponsor label and kept distinct from the reply.

The handling of conversation content needs a careful read. Per reporting, OpenAI says it does not hand conversation content, chat history, memory, or personal information to advertisers. At the same time, it is said to use signals like the user's conversation content, history, and number of questions "on the ad-serving side" to decide which ads to show. In other words, it is framed as "not selling your content to advertisers" but "using it within OpenAI to target ads." If this concerns you, it is worth reviewing memory and data-use settings.

Can you turn ChatGPT ads off or reduce them?

The surest way to avoid ads is to use the paid Plus or Pro plan. In this system, ads are limited to the free and "Go" plans, and Plus/Pro reportedly show none. It comes down to "pay monthly to avoid ads" or "accept ads in exchange for free use."

Even on free or Go, the precision of the ads (how they are tailored to you) likely depends on your memory and conversation-history settings. If privacy concerns you, review memory use and data-for-training settings. Because this is a trial stage, how ads appear and what adjustment options exist may change going forward.

How rivals move: Anthropic says it will not put ads in Claude

Approaches to advertising in AI assistants differ by company. Notably, Anthropic—maker of "Claude," ChatGPT's biggest rival—has made clear it will not put ads in Claude. The difference in direction also bears on which AI users choose.

Symbolizing this rivalry was an ad video Anthropic released for Claude. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's reaction to the video—which asks "Can I get a six pack quickly?"—was reported by TechCrunch, drawing attention to the gap between the two companies over advertising.

This is the author's view. "Run ads or not" is more than a revenue question; it is a statement of how each AI intends to build trust with users. OpenAI wants ads to widen its base of free users; Anthropic wants to sell an ad-free experience. Which is right will be decided by users, but the era in which "free AI assistants are supported by ads" has arrived—and it likely will not be reversed.

Why are ads coming to AI, and what's next?

Why did OpenAI turn to ads at all? Behind it lies the enormous cost of developing and running AI. The latest models cost vast sums both to train and to compute answers to user queries, and the more free users there are, the bigger the losses grow. From here is the author's view. When paid members alone cannot cover the costs, ads become a realistic move to "monetize while keeping free users."

OpenAI's finances are something we have covered repeatedly. Looking at the shutdown of the Sora video generator amid heavy losses and the internal conflict over an IPO, you can see why it wants to grow an ad revenue stream quickly. Going forward, expect the barrier to advertising to fall further, opening it to small and midsize advertisers, and the measurement tooling to mature. Meanwhile, debate over answer neutrality and the handling of conversation data is only getting started.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Summary

In June 2026, ChatGPT ads started in Japan. They target the free and "Go" plans and do not appear on Plus or Pro. Dentsu Digital, Hakuhodo DY ONE, and CyberAgent support placement. Advertiser costs have moved from the early "~$60 per 1,000 impressions, $200,000 minimum" toward something easier to buy, via added click pricing and a self-serve tool.

The performance verdict is not yet settled and measurement is still developing, but OpenAI's ad revenue itself is growing fast. For users, answers are said to be left unchanged by ads, while the handling of conversation data is worth watching. If you would rather not see ads, a paid plan is an option. With Anthropic flatly saying it will not put ads in Claude, the question of how to support free AI assistants is where each company's character will show.

Sources

• ▸ITmedia NEWS - Dentsu and Hakuhodo join ChatGPT ads
• ▸Nikkei - OpenAI rolls out in-ChatGPT ads in Japan
• ▸OpenAI - Testing ads in ChatGPT
• ▸OpenAI - Our approach to advertising and expanding access
• ▸Adweek - Omnicom, WPP and Dentsu line up brands for OpenAI pilot
• ▸CNBC - OpenAI ads pilot tops $100M in ARR in under 2 months
• ▸Campaign - Underwhelming early returns for ChatGPT ads
• ▸TechCrunch - Sam Altman got testy over Claude Super Bowl ads