Global digital payments leader PayPal has introduced its advertising platform, PayPal Ads, in the UK, aiming to enhance commerce media opportunities for brands and merchants.

Initially launched in the US last year, PayPal Ads is a service designed to help businesses grow by leveraging PayPal’s vast user base and data insights.

The platform enables targeted advertising, delivering personalised ads to potential customers based on their purchase history. These ads can appear across PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Honey, maximising visibility.

Additionally, the platform provides purchase intent and transaction data, allowing brands to create dynamic advertising messages and full-funnel campaigns to drive growth.

Businesses will also gain access to performance insights, enabling them to measure campaign effectiveness, return on investment (ROI), and overall market impact.

The advertising solution will be rolled out in phases, with customers expected to start seeing ads from July 2025, the company confirmed.

Highlighting the importance of commerce media in boosting brand visibility, Mark Grether, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PayPal Ads, stated:

“Commerce and advertising are deeply connected, and we believe PayPal’s advertising solution will become a must-use marketing and revenue channel for merchants—big and small.”

“In a world where shopping is agentic, invisible, and everywhere, brands need a partner that can help them reach these empowered shoppers.”

As of early 2025, PayPal boasts approximately 432 million active users worldwide, including individual consumers and businesses relying on its payment services.

Last month, the payment specialist experienced a major technical outage, temporarily preventing thousands of users globally from accessing their accounts and completing transactions.

The issue affected multiple services, including account withdrawals, express checkout, cryptocurrency transactions, and Venmo.

A PayPal spokesperson confirmed: “The system issue was swiftly resolved,” underscoring the company’s rapid response to the disruption.

---