Mobile Dev Memo Podcast Season 7, Episode 5: Ads in ChatGPT (with Rishabh Jain)
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Feb 3, 2026 
Rishabh Jain, CEO and co-founder of FERMÀT Commerce and commenter on commerce and ad strategies in AI, joins to dissect ads in ChatGPT. He explores why ads can fund product improvements and boost discovery. They weigh CPM launch choices, targeting and privacy tradeoffs, who wins early, and what success could look like in a year. The tone is optimistic but focused on disciplined execution.
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Ads Can Improve Consumer Experience
- Ads let OpenAI subsidize better models for free users while capturing commercial value to improve the product.
- Rishabh argues ads can increase consumer surplus by exposing users to discovery they otherwise wouldn't have.
Ads Enable New Product Discovery
- Without ads, new products rarely surface because LLMs will favor established trusted sources.
- Ads create discovery opportunities that expand variety and let new companies reach customers.
Measure CAC In Dollars, Not Percent
- Treat acquisition spend as absolute dollars, not a percentage of GMV, because CAC amortizes across lifetime value.
- Use ads to build relationships and remarket, which affiliate-only models can't provide.