ai surfaces · a channel in the open interface

Ads in AI assistants, through the same interface

ChatGPT Ads and Thrad place sponsored units inside AI chat assistants. AdvertisingOS reaches both through their public advertiser APIs as two more connectors — same tools, same schema, same audit trail as every other platform.

reads and writes available

every claim below carries its status and the date it was checked — a verification status is a claim about a date, never about now.

interfacewhat every draft goes through

One governed path, not a new product

An AI-surface campaign is a campaign: the same create, edit and pause tools, the same rehearsal before any live call, the same ledger after it. What the channel adds is stated rather than smoothed over — a declared ad category checked before submission, the platform’s review hold in the preview, and the supplier, retailer and funding party each draft is for.

dry run firstevery write defaults to mode dry_run: launch_campaign previews the whole campaign tree, update_campaign the before→after diff, each with its policy findings — nothing is created or changedavailable

confirma live call must carry the confirmation token its preview minted, bound to the exact diff; while a connector's writes are gated, its write dry run says so and mints no tokenavailable

paused or heldChatGPT Ads campaigns are created paused; Thrad holds a new campaign in its human review and returns it to active on approval, with no cancel during review — the preview states the holdChatGPT Ads available · doc-derived 2026-10-23; Thrad available · doc-derived 2026-10-23

auditedevery connector action emits exactly one audit event; every governed change writes exactly one change-log entry (get_audit_log)available

integer microsbudgets, bids and spend are integer micros with a declared currency on both platformsavailable

category pre-flightevery AI-surface draft, and every update to a policy-relevant field, declares an ad category and runs our pre-flight against the platform's published policy before it can be submittedavailable · our heuristic, not the platform's review

declared partiessupplier, retailer and funding party are declared on every AI-surface draft and stored by the control plane — neither platform stores themavailable

openai_adsplatform 01 of 02

ChatGPT Ads · OpenAI

integrates the public ChatGPT Ads Advertiser API (OpenAPI v2.3.0)

Sponsored chat cards shown in ChatGPT, managed and reported per ad account. The connector calls the public Advertiser API with the advertiser's own key, like any other API client.

readscampaigns · ad groups · ads · delivery (impressions, clicks, spend)available · reads doc-derived 2026-10-13

writescreate · edit · pause/resume, on the governed pathavailable · writes doc-derived 2026-10-23

create holdcreated pauseddoc-derived

reviewOpenAI's automated and human reviewplatform fact

formatchat_card — title 3–50 chars, body ≤ 100; image by URLavailable in dry run

targetingcountries · context hints (≤ 2000)available in dry run

day boundaryaccount timezonedeclared

conversionsnot requested in this releaseplanned

connectionadvertiser API key · OAuth gated (client registration undocumented)available

live writes verified: yes · the site status follows the connector's own flag

thradplatform 02 of 02

Thrad

integrates the Thrad advertiser API (v1)

Sponsored cards and polls placed inside AI chat assistants. Delivery arrives split by supply source — Thrad's own and ChatGPT — as reported by Thrad's insights API.

readscampaigns · ad groups · ads · delivery by supply source (impressions, clicks, spend)available · reads doc-derived 2026-10-13

writescreate · edit · pause/resume, on the governed pathavailable · writes doc-derived 2026-10-23

create holdpaused in Thrad's human review, active on approval · no cancel during reviewdoc-derived

deposit$10 charged by Thrad at create (10000000 micros, USD)Thrad's figure

formatscard (headline ≤ 30) · poll (question ≤ 120, 2–4 options) · asset reference from the Thrad dashboardavailable in dry run

targetingcountries · context hintsavailable in dry run

day boundaryUTCdeclared

conversionsnot reported by platformplatform fact

connectionadvertiser key (ak_…)available

live writes verified: yes · the site status follows the connector's own flag

category policyour pre-flight, not their review

Checked before submission, cited by version

Every AI-surface draft declares an ad category, and the pre-flight checks it against the platform’s published policy as versioned data. It is our heuristic: passing it is never a prediction of approval, and platform review stays the authority. The pre-flight blocks alcohol (> 0.5% ABV), THC / cannabis, intoxicating hemp THC, tobacco / nicotine, vapes / nicotine pouches, CBD ingestibles, lottery / gaming, kratom / botanicals and other regulated on ChatGPT Ads · OpenAI, and passes CBD topicals only as a warning (warning · refused without restricted-state exclusions); it blocks every regulated category on Thrad.

ChatGPT Ads · OpenAIOpenAI Ad Policies v1.6 (Sep 2026)version v1.6 (September 2026) · checked 2026-10-13

ThradThrad: no published advertiser ad policy (docs.thrad.ai advertiser section)version none published · checked 2026-10-13

alcohol (> 0.5% ABV)openai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

THC / cannabisopenai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

intoxicating hemp THCopenai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

tobacco / nicotineopenai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

vapes / nicotine pouchesopenai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

CBD topicalsopenai_ads:warning · refused without restricted-state exclusionsthrad:blocked · no published policy

CBD ingestiblesopenai_ads:blocked · policy silentthrad:blocked · no published policy

lottery / gamingopenai_ads:blocked · disallowedthrad:blocked · no published policy

kratom / botanicalsopenai_ads:blocked · policy silentthrad:blocked · no published policy

other regulatedopenai_ads:blocked · policy silentthrad:blocked · no published policy

non-alcoholic beveragesopenai_ads:warning · subject to reviewthrad:blocked · no published policy

general retailopenai_ads:allowedthrad:allowed

non-regulated CPGopenai_ads:allowedthrad:allowed

a silent or unpublished policy blocks the category until a written answer is recorded. sources: openai ad policies · thrad advertiser docs

retail mediaAdvertisingOS Cloud · by Surfside

Where the channel meets retail media

AdvertisingOS is open infrastructure led and donated by Surfside, which runs commerce media for retailers and the brands that sell through them. In that model a supplier funds an ad that sends shoppers to a retailer’s pages — so every AI-surface draft names the supplier, the retailer and who pays, and the control plane keeps that declaration with the change log. What sits beyond that belongs to AdvertisingOS Cloud, the hosted offering from Surfside, and carries its roadmap status. Reports show observed delivery only: no transaction or return-on-spend claims until the transaction-linked layer exists.

ships today in the open project

declared partiessupplier · retailer · funding party on every AI-surface draftships today in the open project

traffic per retailerobserved clicks and spend per retailer × supplier, with an undeclared bucket so totals reconcile — observed traffic, never salesships today in the open project

cloud adds planned

proveAI-surface traffic joined to transactions on Surfside's measurement infrastructureplanned

monetizeretailer-owned AI-assistant inventory, sold through the same interfaceplanned · exploratory

status per docs/cloud-roadmap.md — a capability moves out of planned only when the code exists

nextthe same catalog, the same docs

Both connectors sit in the catalog beside every other platform and answer list_platforms with their declared capabilities, so an agent reads what each can and cannot do — including whether its writes are open — instead of discovering it on a refused call. Platform names identify the third-party services each connector integrates with; they imply no affiliation or endorsement.

connector catalog →AdvertisingOS Cloud docs