ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta includes new references to an...
Tibor Blaho@btibor91
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Dec 01, 2025
~2 min read
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ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta includes new references to an "ads feature" with "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel"
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More context
Tibor Blaho@btibor91
OpenAI has imported approximately 630 former Meta employees representing about 20% of its roughly 3,000 staff according to LinkedIn data analyzed by The Information, with OpenAI's Slack having a channel just for former Meta employees according to a current employee and many holding major leadership roles including CEO of applications Fidji Simo
The company is considering whether ChatGPT could show ads based on its memory or the information it remembers about users according to a current employee, with focus groups revealing that some users already think ChatGPT has ads and some OpenAI staff using that finding to argue for adding advertising
Sam Altman has shifted his stance from calling ads a "last resort" and "uniquely unsettling" as recently as last May to saying he "finds ads somewhat distasteful but not a nonstarter" in a podcast this month, while CEO of applications Fidji Simo said in a companywide meeting in recent weeks that OpenAI was looking at advertising and how it could benefit users according to two current employees
The company is considering whether ChatGPT could show ads based on its memory or the information it remembers about users according to a current employee, with focus groups revealing that some users already think ChatGPT has ads and some OpenAI staff using that finding to argue for adding advertising
Sam Altman has shifted his stance from calling ads a "last resort" and "uniquely unsettling" as recently as last May to saying he "finds ads somewhat distasteful but not a nonstarter" in a podcast this month, while CEO of applications Fidji Simo said in a companywide meeting in recent weeks that OpenAI was looking at advertising and how it could benefit users according to two current employees
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My recent post about the new "ads feature" in the ChatGPT Android beta got a lot more attention than I expected, so I want to share a bit more context and my first thoughts
- I work on AIPRM for ChatGPT and Claude, so I regularly look inside new web and mobile app builds and compare versions to spot small changes and hints of upcoming features, keep AIPRM working smoothly and share what is coming next with people who care about ChatGPT and Claude news
- In the latest publicly available ChatGPT Android beta app on Google Play I unpacked the APK and, when I compared it to the previous version, I saw new strings like "ads feature", "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel" that were not there before
- OpenAI has been talking for a while about maybe trying ads in a careful way, and these references are the first clear hint that this is now in active development
- My guess is that ads will start around search, shopping and recommendation answers, with "bazaar content" and "search ads carousel" pointing to marketplace style product cards, not inside every normal chat
- This brings ChatGPT closer to what we already see from Google and Microsoft, where Google shows ads inside AI Overviews and AI Mode results and has talked about native ad ideas for Gemini, Copilot already shows ads in chat for shopping and other commercial questions, and Perplexity shows sponsored follow up questions next to the answers
- This could help OpenAI give free users more generous usage and features, while users on paid plans stay ad free, which fits with the high costs of running ChatGPT and the revenue they expect from shopping and ad related features
- I work on AIPRM for ChatGPT and Claude, so I regularly look inside new web and mobile app builds and compare versions to spot small changes and hints of upcoming features, keep AIPRM working smoothly and share what is coming next with people who care about ChatGPT and Claude news
- In the latest publicly available ChatGPT Android beta app on Google Play I unpacked the APK and, when I compared it to the previous version, I saw new strings like "ads feature", "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel" that were not there before
- OpenAI has been talking for a while about maybe trying ads in a careful way, and these references are the first clear hint that this is now in active development
- My guess is that ads will start around search, shopping and recommendation answers, with "bazaar content" and "search ads carousel" pointing to marketplace style product cards, not inside every normal chat
- This brings ChatGPT closer to what we already see from Google and Microsoft, where Google shows ads inside AI Overviews and AI Mode results and has talked about native ad ideas for Gemini, Copilot already shows ads in chat for shopping and other commercial questions, and Perplexity shows sponsored follow up questions next to the answers
- This could help OpenAI give free users more generous usage and features, while users on paid plans stay ad free, which fits with the high costs of running ChatGPT and the revenue they expect from shopping and ad related features
Tibor Blaho@btibor91
ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta includes new references to an "ads feature" with "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel"
