StackAdapt just eliminated its minimum spend for ChatGPT ads entirely. Criteo slashed its threshold from $50,000 to $10,000. The ad tech giants are racing to lower the barriers to entry for the world's most anticipated new advertising platform — and brands are the ones winning.

In April, StackAdapt launched its ChatGPT ad pilot with a clear barrier to entry: a $50,000 minimum spend commitment. Criteo, OpenAI's first ad tech partner, followed with the same threshold. Only the biggest brands with the deepest pockets could afford to test the new frontier of AI-native advertising.

Then something changed. The race to the bottom began.

StackAdapt dropped its minimum entirely in May, opening its self-serve model to the broader market with no floor at all. "We have no minimums," StackAdapt chief revenue officer Christian Gerron told ADWEEK. Criteo followed earlier this month, cutting its ChatGPT ad threshold from $50,000 to $10,000.

The ChatGPT ad price war is on. And the ad tech giants are racing to lower the barriers to entry for what could be the most consequential new advertising platform of the decade.

From $250,000 to Zero: How OpenAI's Ad Platform Evolved

The journey to zero minimums has been remarkably short. OpenAI formally confirmed plans to test advertising on ChatGPT on January 16, 2026. The pilot formally launched on February 9, 2026, at a CPM of $60, with a minimum advertiser commitment set between $200,000 and $250,000.

By April, OpenAI had switched ChatGPT advertising from CPM to cost-per-click pricing, setting bids between $3 and $5 and lowering the minimum spend from $250,000 to $50,000. The self-serve Ads Manager opened in May 2026 at ads.openai.com for all US advertisers.

That same month, StackAdapt opened up ChatGPT ads to all of its advertisers. Criteo, which had become OpenAI's first ad tech partner, was now facing competition from a rival DSP with no minimums at all.

StackAdapt's Playbook: No Minimums, No Excuses

StackAdapt's leaked pitch deck from March 27 revealed the company's early ambitions. The independent demand-side platform was dangling CPMs as low as $15 alongside discounted platform and management fees. The company framed the push as early access to a new "discovery layer" — one that captures people in the middle of researching and comparing products on ChatGPT.

"We have no minimums," Gerron told ADWEEK. It was a sharp reversal from the company's initial $50,000 minimum spend commitment when it launched its ChatGPT pilot in April. StackAdapt dropped the requirement in May after opening its self-serve model to the broader market.

The strategy is clear: flood the zone. By eliminating barriers to entry, StackAdapt hopes to capture a critical mass of advertisers before competitors can establish dominance. It's a classic platform play — get the advertisers in, prove the channel works, and worry about margins later.

Criteo's Counterpunch: $10,000 and Product-Feed Integrations

Criteo responded with its own aggressive move. The ad tech firm cut its ChatGPT campaign minimums from $50,000 to $10,000. But the company didn't stop at price. Criteo also offered simplified product-feed integrations and financial incentives.

The product-feed integration is key. Ben Kahan, head of programmatic at Brainlabs — which is among the agencies using Criteo to buy ads on ChatGPT — said Criteo allows retail brands to connect existing product feeds directly into OpenAI's ad-buying system. This makes Criteo a "compelling offering for retail media clients," he added. The setup gives brands "easy flexibility," Kahan explained. "We don't have to set up all of the ads manually".

Criteo is gaining traction among retail advertisers by offering lower spending thresholds that some buyers say make it a more attractive option than rival platforms such as StackAdapt. The company is leveraging its commerce media expertise to create a differentiated offering — not just lower minimums, but better integration.

The Economics: $15 CPM vs. $4 CPC

The pricing dynamics are complex. StackAdapt is offering CPMs between $15 and $60. The lower end applies to more specialized inventory, where a single advertiser aligns with the user's prompt. The $60 CPM applies when multiple advertisers qualify.

But StackAdapt's $15 CPM pitch is not guaranteed. An OpenAI spokesperson clarified that, while lower CPMs are possible in some scenarios, "advertisers are not able to select a $15 CPM for this inventory". Even $15 CPMs are more than 50% higher than the average CPM estimated for Meta in the current quarter, according to eMarketer principal analyst Max Willens.

OpenAI's self-serve platform, meanwhile, offers CPC bidding at $3-5 per click, with a $50,000 minimum spend. The platform also offers CPM pricing at around $25, down from $60 at launch.

The performance data is promising. Criteo released a February 2026 study with a sample of 500 US retailers that found users referred through ChatGPT converted at rates 1.5 times higher than those from other traffic sources. As one analysis noted, if that data holds at scale, a $4 ChatGPT CPC that converts at 1.5x produces a similar or better cost per acquisition than a $2 Meta CPC.

The Bigger Picture: OpenAI's $2.5 Billion Ad Ambition

The ad tech competition is not happening in a vacuum. OpenAI has set ambitious revenue targets: $2.5 billion in ad revenues in 2026 and over $100 billion by 2030. Those numbers may be difficult to reach without more proof that ChatGPT ads are impactful enough to warrant their costs.

The company is aggressively expanding its ads pilot. In May, OpenAI announced it would expand the ads pilot to the UK, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico markets. Ads appear only for adult users on ChatGPT's free and Go tiers. The company is also beta testing conversion campaigns and has introduced expanded measurement tools.

But the ad tech partnerships are critical to reaching those targets. OpenAI has struck similar deals with ad tech companies and DSPs to make its ad pilot seem more practical and predictable for marketers wary about massive upfront costs. The company is also reportedly in talks with The Trade Desk about a partnership that would help ChatGPT sell ads using TTD's infrastructure.

The Agency Perspective: "A Compelling Offering"

Agencies are taking notice. Brainlabs is among the agencies using Criteo to buy ads on ChatGPT. Ben Kahan, the agency's head of programmatic, said Criteo allows retail brands to connect existing product feeds directly into OpenAI's ad-buying system, making it a "compelling offering for retail media clients".

The lower minimums are making a difference. Criteo's $10,000 threshold opens the door for smaller brands that couldn't justify a $50,000 test. StackAdapt's elimination of minimums entirely goes even further, allowing advertisers to test ChatGPT ads with virtually no upfront commitment.

The question for advertisers is no longer whether they can afford to test ChatGPT ads. It's whether they can afford not to.

The Bottom Line

StackAdapt has eliminated its minimum spend for ChatGPT ads entirely. Criteo has slashed its threshold from $50,000 to $10,000. The ChatGPT ad price war is on, and advertisers are the winners.

The journey from $250,000 minimums to zero minimums has taken just four months. In January, OpenAI launched its ad pilot with a $60 CPM and a $200,000-$250,000 minimum commitment. By April, the minimum had dropped to $50,000 and the pricing had shifted to CPC. By May, StackAdapt had opened its self-serve model to all advertisers with no minimums at all. By June, Criteo had followed with its own reduction.

The competition is intensifying. StackAdapt is pitching CPMs as low as $15 and no minimums. Criteo is offering $10,000 minimums, product-feed integrations, and financial incentives. OpenAI is expanding its ads pilot to more countries and beta testing new ad formats.

The ad tech giants are betting that ChatGPT will become the next great advertising platform — a new "discovery layer" where consumers research and compare products in a conversational AI environment. The data is promising: ChatGPT referrals convert at 1.5 times the rate of other traffic sources. But the proof is still being built.

For now, the price war is a gift to advertisers. The barriers to entry are falling. The competition is driving innovation. And the future of AI-native advertising is being written in real time — with minimums dropping by the week.