ChatGPT Ads swaps maximum bids for target CPA and CPC.

OpenAI has told ChatGPT Ads advertisers that target cost-per-action and target cost-per-click bidding arrive in Ads Manager on Monday 9 November. The older Max Bid and Max CPC options will be retired on 1 January 2027.

The change was set out in an email to advertisers, reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 5 November. From 9 November, new conversion campaigns use Target CPA in place of Max Bid: the advertiser sets the average it wants to pay for a purchase or lead, and the system adjusts bids and delivery towards it. New click campaigns get Target CPC in place of Max CPC. Where Max CPC capped every bid, Target CPC can go above or below the target in a given auction while aiming for the chosen average.

Existing campaigns keep running on their current settings until advertisers switch them, or until 1 January, when any campaign still on Max Bid or Max CPC moves to the matching target strategy. The automatic option previously called Maximize results now goes under the name intelligent bidding. OpenAI's advice to advertisers is practical: start moving campaigns now, confirm the Pixel or Conversions API is sending the chosen conversion event, use Event Quality Score warnings to fix weak signals, and base targets on recent actual costs. It warns that tight targets or poor conversion data can cut delivery and leave budget unspent.

The move brings ChatGPT's buying model closer to the target-based bidding advertisers know from Google and Meta. What OpenAI has not published is how the targets perform, whether there are minimum budgets, or how much spend is flowing through the platform. On 4 November Criteo, an OpenAI ad partner, said ChatGPT ad spending had yet to scale.

For Gulf advertisers testing ChatGPT Ads, the practical step is the same as anywhere: check conversion tracking before 9 November, because the new strategies lean on it. Teams that have been capping bids by hand should expect less direct control over individual auctions from January.