PayPal Launches Its Ad Business to Pitch Shopping Data

PayPal is open to business with advertisers.

Today, PayPal is formally launching PayPal Ads, its arm that sells digital ads using data about what people buy across its properties within the U.S. PayPal Ads is led by Mark Grether, an advertising executive who previously built Uber and Amazon’s ad businesses.

PayPal is pitching aggregated transaction data from its 400 million active users across its properties, Grether told ADWEEK in an interview.

“The sheer amount of transaction data that we have at our fingertips is just incredible—it’s much more than any single retailer would ever have,” Grether said.

As retailers of all sizes, like Walmart, Instacart, and Best Buy are growing their ad businesses, PayPal is the newest financial company to get in on the game. In April, JPMorgan Chase also formally launched its ad business this year, and American Express also recently revamped its ad business. 

In January, PayPal began testing an ad product within PayPal’s app called Advanced Offers that allows advertisers to target cash-back promotions and discounts to users. PayPal Ads expands those tests to sell display ads across PayPal’s properties, which include PayPal’s app, payment-sharing app Venmo, and coupon and cash-back shopping tool Honey.

Targeting ads with data

Grether said that PayPal Ads is selling display ads on its own properties, eventually expanding to sell video ads within the next year. Ads will also be sold using self-serve technology within the next year, Grether said.

PayPal will also sell ads on retailers’ own websites starting next year, Grether said. Millions of merchants use PayPal’s technology to power payments. PayPal Ads will sell placements across these merchants, allowing advertisers to target a large base of ecommerce shoppers across retailers. 

In one example, PayPal Ads could sell ads on retailer’s order confirmation pages that appear after someone places an order. In this example, PayPal is likely to compete with Rokt, an ecommerce firm that powers a similar functionality for retailers like Macy’s.