Google search ads generated 6.6 times more revenue per dollar than ChatGPT ads

The gap was even wider when the researchers considered what advertisers paid. Marketing researchers Maximilian Kaiser and Christian Schulze found that a visit from a Google search ad brought in an average of $2.45 in sales revenue. A visit from a paid ChatGPT ad brought in 89 cents. About 1.17% of Google search ad visits resulted in a purchase, compared with 0.37% for ChatGPT ads. That figure measures revenue and depends on the prices used in the calculation. The researchers used two kinds of comparisons because a click and a sale tell different stories. Revenue per visit shows how much money the resulting traffic brought in on average. The numbers also show why the average can hide a lopsided result.