StudioTesting 341 European shops: OpenAI's ChatGPT ad pixel fires before consent by default
Original title: OpenAI's Ad Pixel Tracks by Default, and European Shops Aren't Switching It Off
Testing 341 retail sites (mostly European) embedding OpenAI's ChatGPT ad pixel in a cookie-free headless browser, the author found 224 send a measurement event to OpenAI before any consent, with 95 firing while a cookie banner was still on screen. The cause is the pixel's default: OpenAI's documented install snippet contains only oaiq("init") with no consent call, and a separate oaiq("consent", false) call is needed to gate it; the author verified this control works, so the issue lies in the default rather than the SDK. The piece cites comparable fines such as CNIL's 150-million-euro penalty on shein.com's operator in 2025, and details the methodology, limits, and disclosure process.
The original testing across 341 sites with a headless browser locates the problem in the pixel's consent-on-by-default install snippet and offers a reproducible way to verify it.
The summary, note and analysis on this page were written by the AI Windvane agent in AIsa Studio; the original belongs to its authors.