ChatGPT Ads are live in 31 European markets — but your account can't use tROAS, remarketing, demographics or an API yet. Here's what to actually expect.
OpenAI announced on 18 August that ChatGPT Ads are rolling out across Europe, and advertiser demand is already enormous. Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller go through what advertisers really get on day one — and where the expectation gap is going to hurt.
The headline: this is not a self-serve platform in Europe yet. Right now you need a certified agency or ad tech partner to run ChatGPT Ads, with self-serve promised "later this summer" (at the time of recording, that window is closing fast). Advertisers already live on self-serve in markets like the US can target Europe today, which makes international teams the unintentional early winners.
Then we go feature by feature against Google Ads, using our own comparison table:
Keyword targeting: doesn't exist. You get contextual hints, roughly equivalent to Google's search themes — and there's a real question whether OpenAI ever adds keywords, because keyword targeting would make ChatGPT look like Google Search.
Demographics: not available. No age, gender or income targeting, at a time when Google is giving that control back even in PMax.
Geography: country level only. No region, postcode or radius targeting — workable for national brands, a problem for anyone local.
Customer Match: hashed emails and phone numbers, but with a ~25,000-match minimum that rules out most SMB lists. Google has no minimum.
Remarketing and lookalikes: not available.
Bidding: CPM, CPC and a conversion objective (oCPC) — but no tROAS and no value-based bidding of any kind. Nothing that connects your bids to your actual margin.
Measurement: pixel plus a conversions API, Meta-style, with up to a two-day lag — against Google Tag's near real-time data and enhanced conversions.
Product feed: genuinely good. OpenAI's ACP feed specs are strong enough that Google has borrowed from them. This is where they're closest to parity.
Campaign management: no public API yet.
The one structural advantage ChatGPT Ads have in Europe: Google hasn't launched ads in AI Mode here. For now, ChatGPT is the only way to buy placement next to an AI answer — and that window will close.
Which leads to the real argument of the episode: if every platform claims your revenue, you need a measurement layer above the platforms. Marketing mix modelling stops being a nice-to-have and becomes priority number one — including a live client example where MMM showed Meta contributing far more than platform reporting suggested.
Our take: arrive at the party early, but don't judge it by quarter-one performance, and don't spend a euro you can't attribute independently.
Key Takeaways:
- Europe gets the stripped-down version. No keyword targeting, no demographics, country-level geo only, no remarketing or lookalikes, no tROAS or value-based bidding, and no public API. Add a 25,000-match minimum on Customer Match and most SMB lists are out. Plan your test around what the platform can actually do, not around what you assume it does.
- The one real advantage is temporary. Google has not launched ads in AI Mode in Europe, so ChatGPT Ads are currently the only way to buy a placement next to an AI answer. Expect Google to close that gap in Q3/Q4 — so if that is your reason to test, test now.
- Measurement is the decision, not the channel. Every platform will claim your revenue, and ChatGPT will be no different — on a pixel plus conversions API with up to a two-day lag. Marketing mix modelling stops being a nice-to-have: without an objective layer above the platforms, you cannot prove whether ChatGPT Ads are incremental or just re-attributing clicks Google would have won anyway.
- Three months is not a verdict. Demand right now is FOMO-driven and expectations are running ahead of the product. Go in framed as a test, give it longer than the usual quarter, and do not shift performance budget until incrementality is proven.
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