[empath75]

I am not 100% sure this is wrong?

I frequently ask chatgpt about researching products or looking at reviews, etc and it is pretty obvious that I want to buy something, and the bridge right now from 'researching products' to 'buying stuff' is basically non-existent on ChatGPT. ChatGPT having some affiliate relationships with merchants might actually be quite useful for a lot of people and would probably generate a ton of revenue.

[jeromegv]

It's likely they already make money on affiliates, but this is different, ads are product placement.

[forrestpitz]

That assumes a certain kind of ad though. Even a "pu ch the monkey" style banner ad would be a start. I can't imagine they wouldn't be very careful not to give consumers the impression that their "thumb was on the scale" of what ads you see

[yunohn]

Sure, but affiliate != ads. Rather, both affiliate links and paid ad slots are by definition not neutral and thus bias your results, no matter what anyone claims.

[matwood]

ChatGPT has recently been linking me directly to Amazon or other stores to buy what I'm researching.