OpenAI's ChatGPT Mini-Apps Face Slow Rollout Amid Ad Success

OpenAI's ChatGPT platform is encountering a sluggish rollout for its mini-app integrations six months after launch, even as the company reports strong early revenue from a new advertising pilot and approaches one billion users worldwide.

The mini-apps, introduced in October to allow third-party services like those from Spotify and Booking Holdings to operate directly within the chatbot, aimed to transform ChatGPT into an all-in-one ecosystem similar to a digital marketplace. By now, more than 300 such integrations exist, enabling users to browse and initiate tasks without leaving the interface. However, developers and partners report limited adoption, with apps often hard to discover and offering restricted features. Many companies have curtailed functionality to maintain control over customer data and payments, redirecting users to their own platforms for transactions. Executives at Booking noted that traffic from ChatGPT remains small compared to search engines like Google, where the company invests heavily in advertising.

Developers have highlighted operational challenges, including a lengthy and sometimes error-prone approval process, bugs in coding tools, and scant...