Milena Traikovich is a prominent figure in the digital landscape, known for her sharp ability to transform complex data into high-performing lead generation engines. As a strategist who thrives on performance optimization and analytics, she has spent years navigating the evolving currents of demand generation to help businesses find their most valuable customers. With OpenAI now aggressively building out its own advertising platform, Milena’s perspective is vital for understanding how conversational AI is shifting from a simple query tool into a competitive marketplace. In this discussion, we explore the strategic implications of OpenAI’s new multi-advertiser formats, the modernization of their Ads Manager, and what the rapid expansion into international markets means for the future of global brand discovery.
The conversation covers the transition from exclusive to shared ad placements and the adoption of the second-price auction model to drive competitive fairness. We also dive into the operational upgrades designed to mirror established advertising systems, such as bulk editing and budget flexibility, while examining how the platform’s growth into regions like Japan and Brazil is opening new doors for international reach.
OpenAI is moving toward a model where multiple advertisers can appear within a single sponsored placement using a second-price auction. How do you see this change impacting the competitive landscape for brands that are currently used to exclusive, single-advertiser placements?
This shift is a massive turning point because it effectively ends the era of the “monopoly placement” within a single chat interaction. By moving to a second-price auction—a model where the highest bidder wins but only pays a fraction more than the next-highest bid—OpenAI is creating a much more democratic and high-energy bidding environment. For marketers, this means you can no longer rely on just having the deepest pockets to own a space; you now have to consider how your brand stacks up when sitting side-by-side with several other relevant competitors in the same ad unit. It’s a move that significantly increases the available inventory, which is a huge win for brands that were previously priced out of limited spots. I believe this will force a much higher standard for creative relevance, as you are now directly vying for a user’s attention against other live options right in the middle of their research process.
With ChatGPT now testing these multi-advertiser units specifically to improve product discovery, what does this tell us about the way high-intent audiences are evolving their search habits?
We are witnessing a fundamental change where users are moving away from the traditional list of blue links and toward a more conversational, guided buying journey. When ChatGPT displays multiple relevant advertisers during a purchase-related conversation, it transforms the AI from a simple assistant into a sophisticated digital concierge that offers a curated marketplace. This approach allows users to compare options without feeling like they are being bombarded by intrusive pop-ups, making the discovery process feel much more organic and helpful. For a demand gen expert, this is incredibly exciting because it catches the consumer at a moment of peak intent—when they are actively asking questions and seeking solutions. The fact that OpenAI is seeing success with this in a small subset of ads suggests that users are hungry for this kind of integrated, multi-choice discovery experience within their AI interactions.
The recent updates to Ads Manager, including bulk editing and the ability to clone CPM campaigns into CPC campaigns, seem aimed at reducing operational friction. How do these “familiar” features change the day-to-day workflow for a marketing team?
These updates are a long-awaited sigh of relief for teams that have felt the growing pains of managing campaigns on a nascent platform. Being able to transition from lifetime budgets to an average daily budget model provides the kind of weekly pacing flexibility that is essential for maintaining a steady flow of high-quality leads. The addition of bulk editing tools is a total game-changer for scale, as it allows us to make sweeping adjustments across multiple initiatives without the tedious, soul-crushing task of manual entry. We also see more refined control with custom CPM maximum bids, which gives us the surgical precision needed to hit our performance targets. It’s clear that OpenAI is listening to the community by implementing features that make their platform look and feel like the professional ad systems we already use every day.
The platform has recently expanded its geographic targeting to include the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico. What should global brands be considering as they look to scale their AI-driven discovery traffic into these new regions?
This international expansion is a bold signal that OpenAI is ready to compete on a global scale, moving far beyond its initial focus on English-speaking markets like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For global brands, this is a golden opportunity to reach diverse audiences in high-growth markets where AI adoption is skyrocketing, such as Japan and South Korea. It’s not just about the volume of users; it’s about the unique ways people in Brazil or Mexico might interact with AI during their research and buying journeys compared to North American consumers. To succeed, marketers need to ensure their campaigns are culturally nuanced and localized, taking full advantage of the new targeting options to capture high-intent traffic in these specific regions. This investment in a broader ecosystem shows that the platform is maturing into a truly international powerhouse for brand discovery.
What is your forecast for the future of AI-assisted research and buying journeys as these advertising tools become more sophisticated?
I expect that within the next year, AI discovery will become a mandatory pillar of the digital media mix, potentially rivaling traditional search in terms of lead quality and conversion rates. As multi-advertiser placements become the norm, we will likely see even deeper integrations where the lines between a conversation and a transaction become almost invisible. I anticipate that the data gathered from these high-intent interactions will allow for a level of predictive targeting that we haven’t seen before, helping brands show up exactly when a user realizes they have a problem to solve. We are heading toward a future where the AI doesn’t just suggest a product, but facilitates the entire journey from initial curiosity to the final click, making the experience seamless for the user and incredibly efficient for the advertiser. The brands that jump in now and master these new auction dynamics and tools will be the ones that define this new era of digital marketing.
