Monaco, London and Paris may be the most costly European capitals to buy property, but Norwegian city Oslo is the most expensive place to buy Facebook advertising, followed by the Vatican City, Helsinki and Berlin, according to new research. London is only 9th in an analysis carried out by Kenshoo, while Paris is 11th and […]
Monaco, London and Paris may be the most costly European capitals to buy property, but Norwegian city Oslo is the most expensive place to buy Facebook advertising, followed by the Vatican City, Helsinki and Berlin, according to new research.
London is only 9th in an analysis carried out by Kenshoo, while Paris is 11th and Monaco is 15th. The cheapest capitals are Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia and Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina – which are 24 times cheaper than Oslo when it comes to Facebook advertising.
Facebook uses an auction system where advertisers “bid” on how much they are willing to pay for a user to click on their ad. Facebook provides a “suggested bid” based on the competitive landscape of the city chosen, and these figures were used to compile the rankings. Oslo’s suggested bid is $0.73 per user click, compared to $0.03 for Skopje and Sarajevo. The Vatican City’s suggested bid is $0.70 per click,
The analysis shows that Europe is substantially cheaper than the United States of America for local Facebook advertising. Similar research in the US found that the suggested bid for top US city San Francisco is $1.02, ahead of Washington DC at $1.01 per click.
“The powerful demographic targeting within Facebook advertising enables brands to fine tune their reach, including messaging and segmenting by city,” said Zachary Rubin, account manager at Kenshoo. “By comparing advertising costs we’ve been able to create an alternative ranking of European capitals, which has delivered a few surprises. While Oslo coming on top may not be a major surprise, given the affluence of its population, it is followed closely by the tiny Vatican City, showing that there is a high demand from advertisers to reach its 842 residents. However advertisers will not be able to reach its most famous resident, as Pope Francis does not have a profile on Facebook.”
The wide range of advertising costs between European capitals reflects factors such as the location of ad placement and advertising demand.
The analysis is based on suggested bids for “Newsfeed” placements on desktop and mobile (Newsfeed ads typically get higher click through and conversion rates – and usually at a higher cost, vs. right hand column placements).
Suggested bids are subject to change, as competition causes them to fluctuate. European data was analysed on 17 June 2015, with US cities analysed in February 2015.
The analysis is written up in detail on the Kenshoo blog here
