A user developing event seating software reported on Hacker News that they conducted an advertising experiment using ChatGPT from August 5 to August 28, 2026.
Low conversion rates in ChatGPT advertising reported
This article is a translation. Read the Japanese original
According to the results of the experiment, although traffic was successfully acquired even when the cost-per-click (CPC) was set significantly lower than the recommended £2 (at £0.15–£0.07), the conversion rate remained at a mere 0.46%. The user analyzed that the issue lies in the targeting of the advertising traffic rather than problems with the website or the product itself.
An analysis by Augustine Fou, an expert in ad fraud, estimated that the majority of the clicks were from humans. Fou stated that bot traffic is not the primary factor explaining the low conversion rate.
According to data from Fouanalytics, while 88% of the incoming traffic moved their mouse, only 10% actually took some form of action. This suggests that the advertisements are failing to target the intended audience.
Furthermore, it was reported that the conversion rate from free referrals is an order of magnitude higher than that of paid advertisements.