Google launches AdWords (2000)
Google had a search engine with 18 million users and no real revenue. In October 2000 it launched AdWords, a self-serve auction platform that let any business buy text ads next to search results. By 2002 ad revenue covered the entire company.
Within two years AdWords generated most of Google's revenue. Yahoo and Microsoft scrambled to match the self-serve auction model.
Search ads became a $300 billion business globally, with Google taking the largest share. The self-serve auction model became the default for digital advertising.
OpenAI is running the same playbook: a high-traffic consumer product with no native ad revenue, then a self-serve auction that opens inventory to small businesses. The Google parallel is what OpenAI's investor deck is selling.
