OpenAI’s expansion of ChatGPT advertising to India has sparked genuine curiosity among marketers, but most are still waiting for proof of performance before committing serious budgets. This Moneycontrol feature explores the emerging economics of ChatGPT ads, where premium pricing, high user intent and scarce inventory inside the conversation itself make it a fundamentally different proposition from Google Search or Display. Featuring Mihir Mehta, Managing Partner at 0101.Today, who notes that the early entry of global brands like Best Buy and Lowe’s alongside Indian brands like Mamaearth and Sebamed signals that advertisers want to understand what conversational advertising can deliver before the market becomes crowded, the piece examines why ChatGPT inventory commands a premium, with initial enterprise CPMs of around $60 and CPCs ranging from Rs 110 to Rs 479, compared to Google Search CPCs of Rs 18 to Rs 95 in categories like BFSI. The opportunity, as the article frames it, lies less in scale and more in capturing users at moments of high purchase consideration. Around 50 brands have participated so far, largely through agency partnerships, and the ecosystem remains at an early stage, but the pattern looks familiar: it resembles the early days of Google Ads.
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