ChatGPT gets ads in Denmark and 30 other European countries

What's new

OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT will get ads in 31 European countries, including Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. The announcement came on August 18, 2026, and according to industry coverage, the rollout was set to happen the following week.

The ads only appear for users who are logged in and have the Free or Go plan. In Canada, where ads began running on April 16, 2026, they apply only to adult users. Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education are ad-free. In Europe, ad buying initially goes through OpenAI's own Ads Solutions team, agencies and technology partners. A self-serve tool, Ads Manager, was to follow later in the summer.

What's smart

Ads are selected based on the topic of the current conversation, past chats and past interactions with ads. That means an ad can appear just when you ask about something relevant, such as travel or products.

Advertisers do not get access to the conversations themselves, only aggregate figures such as impressions and clicks. OpenAI says the company does not sell customer data and that placement is restricted for sensitive topics.

In the US, the tools have been expanded. Advertisers can now pay per click (CPC) and not just per thousand impressions (CPM). A self-serve Ads Manager is in beta, and a so-called Conversions API and pixel can measure whether someone buys or signs up after seeing the ad. Here too, advertisers only get aggregate insights. The agencies Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP support ad buying, as do technology companies such as Adobe and Criteo.

Cheaper or better?

For regular users, the price doesn't change: Free and Go are still the plans where ads are shown. According to the sources, those who want to avoid them need the more expensive plans such as Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education, which are ad-free. Subscription prices are not given in the sources.

For advertisers, getting started in the US has become cheaper. According to industry coverage, the minimum spend fell from $250,000 to $50,000, and the CPM price fell from about $60 to about $25. The US pilot, which started in February 2026, reportedly passed $100 million in annual revenue within six weeks and has over 600 advertisers, according to the coverage. Danish prices have not been disclosed, and a comparison with competitors is not provided in the sources.

The marketing agency TechWyse assessed that the ads in Canada were a reach medium rather than a performance medium, because targeting was limited and click and conversion tracking was listed as "coming soon."

Who it's good for

For businesses, the ads make the most sense if you have good landing pages and offers that fit naturally into a conversation. That's the view of the agency Digitad, which offers to manage the ads in Canada. Digitad's prices start at CAD 725 per month plus CAD 2,465 in setup for small businesses focused on lead generation, and CAD 850 per month plus CAD 2,590 in setup for e-commerce. The media budget for OpenAI comes on top. These are the agency's own prices, and they do not apply in Denmark.

For regular users, the consequence is that free ChatGPT in Denmark may show ads going forward. The sources do not make clear exactly what the ads look like in the Danish market.