ChatGPT Ads Target Your Phone Number, Email
OpenAI's ads targeting is pretty creepy, and new research confirms spyware companies are delivering potent malware through advertising networks.
OpenAI permits the insertion of advertisements into ChatGPT sessions, allowing targeted advertising based on users' email addresses, phone numbers, or phone advertising IDs, according to 404 Media’s tests of ChatGPT’s advertising system. While this targeting method is common in the advertising industry, ChatGPT’s one billion monthly active users might not be aware they are being targeted on a personal level due to the data advertisers upload to OpenAI.
The ad targeting also differs from standard practices as it can be based on the prompts users enter into ChatGPT, which users may consider private but could be reviewed by humans for ad targeting purposes. Zach Edwards, co-founder of DecryptAds, noted that OpenAI's advertising strategy is similar to other large companies aiming to monetize their audiences without users noticing the privacy implications.
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT ads in the U.S. in February and has since expanded to other regions. When a Free or Go user inputs a prompt into ChatGPT, the chatbot often displays a related advertisement at the bottom. To create targeted ads, advertisers can upload raw personal data, such as email addresses and phone numbers, or hashed versions of this data for more privacy-focused targeting.
OpenAI checks if the provided data corresponds to real ChatGPT users before enabling the targeted ads. Users can opt-out of personalized ad targeting, but ads or tracking may still occur based on current chat content. Websites like ChatGPT Ad Library enable users to search for specific companies, topics, or prompts to view the ads that result from those inputs.
Written by urgent.news from 404 Media's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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