PayPal expands its Offsite Ads platform into the UK and Germany

San Jose / London / Berlin — September 17, 2025. PayPal today announced the European launch of PayPal Offsite Ads, bringing its transaction-driven advertising product to the United Kingdom and Germany. The expansion — the first roll-out of Offsite Ads outside the United States — marks a deliberate push by PayPal to turn its payment network and transaction graph into an addressable advertising asset for brands and merchants across premium web channels. (PayPal Newsroom)

This move follows PayPal’s broader Ads initiative, which the company has been building since late 2024 and has steadily matured through new ad formats, measurement tools and the creation of what PayPal calls a “transaction graph” — a cross-merchant map of purchase behavior compiled from PayPal, Venmo, Honey and merchant integrations. PayPal pitches Offsite Ads as a privacy-first, commerce-driven alternative to the cookies-and-IDs model that dominated digital advertising for the last decade. (Digiday)

Below I unpack what Offsite Ads is, how it works, why PayPal believes Europe is fertile ground, and what merchants, advertisers and consumers should watch for — including privacy considerations, competitive implications and likely business outcomes. I close with two illustrative case studies (one hypothetical and one modelled on the kinds of results PayPal says it has seen elsewhere) and a short assessment of regulatory and industry risks.

What is Offsite Ads — the simple version

Offsite Ads enables advertisers to run display and video campaigns outside PayPal properties (hence “offsite”), targeting audiences whose purchase behavior PayPal has observed across its network. Rather than relying solely on inferred interests or third-party cookies, Offsite Ads leverages PayPal’s transaction signals to build cohorts and measure campaign performance against actual purchases — enabling closed-loop attribution from ad impression to sale, across multiple merchants. Advertisers can buy placements across premium web inventory, apps and connected TV while using PayPal’s transaction data to define and measure audiences. (PayPal Newsroom)

PayPal frames Offsite Ads as a “commerce media” product: it’s intended to help brands reach consumers who have demonstrated real shopping intent (for example, people who have bought similar products through PayPal) and to offer advertisers clearer ROI metrics because conversions can be tied to real transactions in PayPal’s graph. Mark Grether, PayPal Ads’ SVP and GM, emphasised the cross-merchant view of buyer behaviour as the differentiator. (PayPal Newsroom)

How it technically works (high level)

Transaction graph: PayPal aggregates anonymised purchase signals across PayPal, Venmo, Honey and merchant integrations to create segments of users with similar purchase histories. This is not a list of line-item purchases tied to specific individuals that are shared with advertisers; PayPal says it uses privacy safeguards while enabling audience modelling and measurement. (Digiday)
Audience creation: Advertisers create audiences based on purchase categories, recency, frequency and cross-merchant behaviours (for example: “recent buyers of premium running shoes across merchants X, Y, Z”).
Delivery: Ads are served programmatically across the open web, premium sites, apps and connected TV — integrated into existing media buying flows so agencies and DSPs can slot Offsite Ads into their campaigns. (PayPal Newsroom)
Measurement & attribution: PayPal claims “closed-loop” measurement because it can attribute purchases back to campaigns using transaction-level signals, enabling advertisers to measure ROAS (return on ad spend) against actual payments. (PayPal Newsroom)

The promise is stronger measurement and more relevant placements; the trade-off is that PayPal becomes both a payments provider and a media provider — which raises questions about neutrality, data governance and European regulatory scrutiny.

Why the UK and Germany now?

PayPal’s decision to expand into the UK and Germany is strategic. Both markets are large e-commerce economies with sophisticated digital ad ecosystems and strong advertiser demand for measurable outcomes. Importantly, they are also jurisdictions with robust privacy frameworks (the UK with its evolving data regime post-BREXIT and Germany with a strict interpretation of EU data protection law), making them credible proof points for a “privacy-first” product. PayPal’s newsroom release highlighted that Offsite Ads brings “privacy-first transaction-based advertising” to these markets — a messaging choice meant to reassure regulators, partners and consumers. (PayPal Newsroom)

From a product perspective, PayPal has been gradually internationalising its Ads stack since launching in the US; the company has already rolled out on-site advertising formats and an ad measurement suite. Expanding to two major European markets allows PayPal to demonstrate cross-border viability, surface learnings for pan-European scaling and court large advertisers that buy across the continent. Analysts and reporting on PayPal’s ad ambitions view the move as a natural next step in an effort to diversify revenue beyond core payments. (s205.q4cdn.com)

What advertisers and merchants stand to gain

Advertisers:

Better signal-to-conversion linkage: by tying ads to purchase signals rather than browser signals, brands can measure actual incremental sales. That matters where ad budgets are judged by direct commerce outcomes. (PayPal Newsroom)
Cross-merchant insights: PayPal’s graph can reveal buyers who have purchased similar products across multiple retailers, enabling lookalike cohorts that are grounded in commerce behaviour rather than clicks. (Digiday)
Reach in premium channels: Offsite Ads plugs into the open web and CTV, giving advertisers a broader canvas beyond PayPal properties. (PayPal Newsroom)

Merchants:

Incremental demand: PayPal suggests merchants who accept PayPal can benefit when PayPal attracts consumers with Ads, either through Storefront Ads or by attribution benefits that help merchants quantify ad-driven sales.
Attribution and insights: merchants can better understand purchase journeys that start offsite but convert on their sites or at checkout, especially where PayPal is the payment facilitator. (PayPal Newsroom)

Privacy, GDPR and the regulatory question

PayPal’s “privacy-first” framing is core to the pitch — but it will be tested in practice. Europe operates under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and national data protection authorities that are sensitive about commercial reuse of transaction-level data. The critical questions regulators and privacy advocates will ask include:

What level of identifiability exists in PayPal’s audience segments? If segments are derived from pseudonymised transaction data but could be re-identified with other signals, regulators may demand stronger safeguards.
What is the lawful basis for processing? PayPal will need clear legal bases for processing EU users’ transaction data for advertising, and transparent user controls for opting in/out or setting preferences.
Cross-border data flows: PayPal will need to show compliance when transaction processing or ad tech partners move or process data across borders. (PayPal Newsroom)

PayPal, anticipating these concerns, has emphasized privacy protections in its press materials. But when a payments firm becomes an advertising network, the optics matter — and European authorities have previously scrutinised dual-use data practices (especially where financial data is involved). Expect close regulator attention and active engagement from privacy groups and industry bodies. (PayPal Newsroom)

Competitive dynamics: who is PayPal challenging?

PayPal’s Offsite Ads competes in a crowded space where Google, Meta, Amazon and a raft of DSPs and data providers already vie for advertisers. What differentiates PayPal is transaction fidelity — the claim that its signals map to actual purchases rather than click proxies. That could be especially persuasive to performance marketers and CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands that prioritise offline and online sales lifts.

Amazon and Google both have deep commerce reach; Amazon owns purchase intent on its own marketplace, while Google sits across search and display. PayPal’s edge is cross-merchant visibility: it sees purchases across multiple retailers where PayPal was used. Whether that edge is big enough to shift significant ad spend away from incumbents depends on demonstrable performance and scale in European markets. Early indicators — including PayPal’s prior launches and analyst coverage — suggest interest but not immediate displacement. (Digiday)

Early limitations and risks

Audience scale: PayPal’s transaction graph is large globally, but advertiser success hinges on having enough users in the target cohorts in each market to scale campaigns cost-effectively. Niche segments may be small. (Digiday)
Learning curve for merchants: small merchants unfamiliar with PayPal Ads will need onboarding and education to use new ad formats and interpret new attribution reports.
Regulatory friction: as noted above, protracted regulatory review or demands for consent flows could slow or limit features.
Brand safety & neutral role: merchants may worry about a payments provider advertising competing products; PayPal will need clear policies to avoid conflicts of interest.

Two case studies

Case study A — Hypothetical (fashion DTC brand, London)

Background: A direct-to-consumer UK footwear brand sells premium trainers through its Shopify store. The brand already uses PayPal for checkout (30% of transactions) and wants to increase ROAS for its mid-funnel acquisition.

Approach: The brand runs an Offsite Ads campaign targeting PayPal audiences who have purchased “premium athletic footwear” in the previous 90 days but have not purchased from this brand. Creative focuses on limited edition colourways and includes a time-limited free returns offer.

Why it should work: Offsite Ads targets shoppers with demonstrated purchase history for similar products (higher intent than interest signals). PayPal’s closed-loop measurement lets the brand attribute sales back to the campaign without relying on pixel-based conversions that suffer from browser restrictions. Because the brand already uses PayPal at checkout, friction for conversion is reduced.

Expected outcome (plausible): Higher conversion rate from targeted cohorts vs. lookalike audiences; clearer ROAS calculations due to direct transaction attribution. The brand may see faster learning and payback on ad spend during the campaign window.

Note: This is a hypothetical case designed to illustrate use-cases; it is not drawn from a named client.

Case study B — Modelled example (enterprise CPG, U.S. pilot results)

PayPal’s materials and reporting around its U.S. rollouts have cited advertisers seeing measurable lifts when campaigns were built on transaction-derived cohorts. For instance, tests during earlier phases of PayPal Ads showed the utility of cross-merchant signals and in-ad checkout formats like Storefront Ads to shorten purchase flows and increase conversion rates. While full European case studies will emerge with the rollout, PayPal’s stated results from pilots underpin the business case for Offsite Ads. (PayPal Newsroom)

Practical guidance for advertisers and merchants in the UK & Germany

Start small and test incrementally: run pilot campaigns with clear primary metrics (incremental purchases, ROAS) and compare against existing channels.
Use PayPal attribution as one signal, not the only truth: triangulate PayPal measurement with other indicators (CRM lift, promo codes unique to campaigns) to confirm outcomes.
Watch consent UX: ensure the brand’s privacy and cookie/consent notices align with PayPal’s flows and European requirements.
Prepare technical integration: merchants who accept PayPal and have server-side event integrations will get the smoothest measurement and attribution.
Expect an onboarding process: learning how PayPal audiences map to your categories and how to read closed-loop reports will take time but can pay off in better budgeting decisions.

Outlook and final assessment

PayPal’s Offsite Ads expansion into the UK and Germany is a significant step in the company’s commerce-media strategy. It signals PayPal’s intent to turn payments data into a commercially valuable media asset while positioning itself as a privacy-sensitive alternative to cookie-based targeting. The product could be especially compelling to performance marketers and merchants who prize direct, transaction-based measurement.

However, success is not automatic. PayPal must demonstrate scale, preserve user trust, and navigate stringent EU privacy norms. Competitors will press back with their own commerce signals and entrenched ad platforms. For advertisers and merchants, the prudent approach is to run disciplined pilots, validate PayPal’s measurement against other indicators, and stay attentive to consent and regulatory developments.

If PayPal can combine clear uplift in measurable commerce outcomes with transparent privacy practices and neutral marketplace conduct, Offsite Ads could become a meaningful new channel in the European ad stack. For now, the launch offers a fresh, commerce-centric option — and a test case for how payment firms can monetize transaction data in a privacy-conscious world. (PayPal Newsroom)

Sources (selected)

PayPal newsroom: “PayPal Expands Offsite Ads to Germany and the UK, Bringing Privacy-First Transaction-Based Advertising to European Markets”, Sept 17, 2025. (PayPal Newsroom)
Digiday: How PayPal is using Venmo transactions to sell its ads business (analysis of PayPal’s Transaction Graph). (Digiday)
PYMNTS: PayPal Brings Personalized Ads Offering to UK Shoppers (background on PayPal Ads rollout). (PYMNTS.com)
PayPal Q2 2025 corrected earnings call transcript (mentions international expansion of PayPal Ads). (s205.q4cdn.com)

I found several documented examples, announcements, and reactions around PayPal’s Offsite Ads / PayPal Ads expansion into the UK (Germany mentions are more limited as of yet). While full performance data for UK/Germany is still emerging, the available case-studies, comments, and early examples give good clues about expectations, risks, and how brands might use it. Here’s a breakdown.

Key Examples & Announcements

Example / Announcement	What It Is / What Was Said	Relevance / What It Suggests
PayPal Announces Ads Solution in the UK (April 2, 2025)	PayPal publicly announced that “PayPal Ads” is launching in the UK. The product will leverage PayPal’s transaction data to show personalized ads to consumers based on past purchases. (PayPal Newsroom) The rollout is to be phased, with customers in the UK beginning to see ads from July 2025. (PayPal Newsroom)	Establishes timeline. UK merchants will have time to prepare; July is a key date for seeing actual ad delivery.
PayPal Launches Offsite Ads (global context)	“Offsite Ads” allows advertisers to use PayPal’s transaction graph to reach consumers across the open web (premium display, video, etc.) not limited to PayPal-owned properties. (PayPal Newsroom) Publicis Media has been named an agency partner. (PayPal Newsroom)	The UK version likely aligns with this infrastructure—i.e., brands will be able to use purchase behaviour, cross-merchant data, and partner with big agencies. It also signals that advertisers with experience in US or other regions may expect similar mechanics.
Finextra / DecisionMarketing coverage	Reports that with PayPal Ads, merchants will be able to show personalized offers based on actual past purchases, down to individual product/SKU level. (Finextra Research) It describes the ad platform as part of PayPal’s “retail media” ambitions. (DecisionMarketing)	Indicates high granularity is a selling point. If ads can be that specific, then targeting is more precise than many traditional display campaigns. Also suggests competitive pressure with retail media networks (RMBs).
Storefront Ads & Offsite Ads formats	The “Storefront Ads” format is mentioned as part of PayPal’s strategy, enabling shoppable ad units (i.e. you can buy in/ad) and reducing friction. (Core \| Marketing Communications Company) Although in some announcements the UK rollout of Storefront Ads is tied to July 2025 as well. (Core \| Marketing Communications Company)	Suggests that PayPal is trying to shorten the path to purchase. For UK/Germany merchants, this could improve conversion rates, especially when customers may drop off between discovering the product and going to the merchant site.
Comments from PayPal UK leadership	Mark Grether, SVP & GM of PayPal Ads, has said: “Commerce and advertising are deeply connected … the advertising solution … will become a must-use marketing and revenue channel for merchants big and small.” (PayPal Newsroom) Also statements about providing “scaled shopping intent and transaction data” and helping brands measure ROI and market share. (PayPal Newsroom)	The positioning suggests PayPal sees this as more than an optional add-on; they expect it to become core to how merchants do advertising. Also, that measurement (ROI, attribution) is a key selling point.

Early Reactions, Comments & Critiques

Here are what people in the media, industry, or analysts are saying — both positive points and warnings.

Positive Reactions / Anticipated Benefits	Concerns / Potential Downsides
Better audience targeting / intent — Because the ads are based on actual purchase history rather than just browsing or inferred interests, brands expect higher relevance. That could improve ad efficiency (higher conversion per dollar spent) and reduce wasted ad spend. (PayPal Newsroom)	Privacy / consumer trust concerns — European markets (especially Germany) have stricter expectations around data privacy. How PayPal handles user consent, transparency, opt-outs, anonymization etc will matter a lot. Moves like using transaction data carry more scrutiny. There is some unease about how granular targeting may be and how visible / controllable it is for users. (Though direct quotes on that from UK / Germany are less well documented yet.)
Attribution & measurement — One strong selling point is “closed-loop attribution”: PayPal, as a payment provider, has visibility into when purchases happen post ad exposure. That provides a feedback loop many advertisers find valuable. (PayPal Newsroom)	Merchant pushback or friction — Some merchants may feel uncomfortable that PayPal is using aggregated transaction data across multiple merchants to build targeting that could benefit their competitors. There could be concerns about the cost vs benefit. Also, for smaller brands, ramping up ad spend and adopting new tools may be a burden.
Competitive advantage vs cookie-based advertising — With cookies falling out and privacy regulations tightening, transaction-based targeting is appealing as a proxy for purchase intent. UK/Germany advertisers likely see it as compelling given current headwinds on tracking. (PayPal Newsroom)	Coverage limitations — Only purchase behaviour via PayPal or its networks is visible. If a given segment of customers don’t pay with PayPal, data will be missing, which could bias targeting. Also, for high-ticket goods or demographics less likely to use PayPal, segments may under-perform.
Phased rollout gives time to refine — Rollout in phases (UK ads visible from July etc.) gives time for PayPal and merchants to test, adjust creative, measure early results. This cautious rollout is seen as sensible. (PayPal Newsroom)	Regulation / data protection risk — GDPR, national data protection authorities, and competition regulators may scrutinize PayPal’s use of its transaction graph. Potential for regulatory pushback if data use is not transparent or opt-outs are hard. There is risk of reputational damage if users feel their data is used without proper clarity.

Possible Early Case Study Scenarios (Projected / Hypothetical)

Since detailed case studies from the UK / Germany are not yet published in depth, we can project how certain brands might use Offsite Ads, drawing from comparable use cases (from the U.S.) and PayPal’s announcements.

Brand Type / Use Case	How Offsite Ads Could Be Used	Key Success Factors
E-commerce retailer with multiple product SKUs (fashion, electronics, beauty)	Use transaction graph to target consumers who have bought items in similar categories (e.g. customers who bought mid-range running shoes) with display / video ads for complementary products. Retarget lapsed customers who made PayPal purchases in past. Use Storefront Ads to enable in-ad purchase for lower-ticket items.	Good product feed; quality creatives; measuring lift; ensuring PayPal payment option at checkout; managing cost per acquisition vs margin; handling data privacy and consent well.
Subscription / DTC brands	Use PayPal’s data to find lookalike audiences: people who repeatedly purchase via PayPal in the same product category. Use offsite ads to raise awareness then track subscription sign-ups via closed attribution.	Measuring Lifetime Value (LTV) vs CAC; ensuring customer journey from ad to checkout is smooth; integrating Storefront formats or ad units that allow purchase or incentive.
Brick-and-mortar / omnichannel retailers	Use personalized ads to existing customers (via PayPal purchase history) for local promotions (e.g. in Germany, shops using PayPal in store + online). Use ads to push click-and-collect or in-store pickup. Use offers tied to PayPal payments (e.g. discounts / loyalty).	Sync between online/offline data; making sure the store settings accept PayPal; measurement of offline impact; ensuring ad creative localised (language, compliance).

What to Watch For / Metrics

For brands or analysts evaluating early success in the UK/Germany, here are metrics and signals to pay attention to, and things that might distinguish good use from mediocre.

Metric / Signal	Why It Matters
Click-through / view-through conversion uplift vs baseline display/video	To see if transaction-based targeting is delivering better conversion-per-impression compared to say, standard display or contextual ads.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)	Critical for merchants: whether the extra targeting precision justifies cost. If ROAS is meaningfully higher, budget will shift.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) vs lifetime value (LTV)	Need to make sure targeting (especially at scale) isn’t just driving cheap acquisition but ones who stick, or buy again.
Ad relevance / user feedback / opt-outs	Are users finding these ads relevant, or do they see them as creepily personalized? If opt-out rates or complaints go up, that’s a red flag.
Privacy / compliance transparency	Documentation of how data is handled, where consumers control it; compliance with GDPR and local laws (especially Germany, where data privacy sentiment is strong).
Merchant satisfaction & participation	Are merchants seeing incremental sales, uplift in market share; their cost vs gains; whether smaller brands get value (not just big brands).

Gaps & Open Questions

Here are things not yet fully clear in current public info, that could shape whether Offsite Ads succeeds in the UK & Germany.

Germany-specific rollout details: While UK launch has specific dates and phases, Germany’s timeline, legal / regulatory preparation, and merchant readiness are less well documented.
Pricing / cost of ads: What will pricing structure be for merchants? How steep will cost be for high granularity targeting? Will smaller merchants be able to participate affordably?
How opt-in / opt-out for users works in detail: Will consumers proactively consent to transaction data being used for ads? Will there be default settings? How much transparency will there be?
Effectiveness comparisons: Data comparing Offsite Ads performance vs other ad targeting methods (e.g. contextual, cookie-based, cohort or panel-based) will be crucial, especially as privacy shifts continue.
Local regulation in Germany: Germany has notoriously strict privacy enforcement and expectations; how PayPal ensures compliance (BDSG, GDPR, perhaps regional/state laws) will matter.
Merchant perceptions / willingness: Will merchants see enough value to shift budget from current ad platforms (Meta, Google, Amazon) into PayPal’s ad suite? Also, will they worry about competitor exposure or data sharing via aggregated segments?
Consumer attitudes: Will consumers accept ads based on what they have purchased? Or will it feel too “personal”? Cultural attitudes differ, especially in Germany vs UK.