Where can you run digital ads? The platforms in plain terms

Figures current as of September 2026. Advertising inside AI answers in particular changes every quarter.

The distinction that decides everything

Before the individual platforms, one distinction that will save you money later.

With one kind of advertising, somebody is actively looking for something and you appear at that exact moment. The demand already exists; you are capturing it. That is search advertising, which is why it costs comparatively more per click and works comparatively fast.

With the other kind, somebody is scrolling a feed, listening to music or reading a forum thread. Nobody asked about you. You are interrupting, and interest has to be created first. Clicks are cheaper, conversion rates are lower, and the effect shows up later.

Put both in one spreadsheet and compare them on cost per click, and you will draw the wrong conclusions. Feed advertising is not better because the click is cheaper. It buys something different.

Searching and asking: advertising with intent

Google Ads. Search ads above the results are still the most direct route to someone who needs something right now. Alongside them sit Shopping ads with product image and price, display space on other websites, ads on Maps and the automated catch-all format Performance Max. How the auction works and what a click really costs is covered in What is SEA.

Microsoft Advertising (Bing). Smaller reach, but often cheaper clicks and an audience that skews older and searches more often from a company machine. In some B2B fields the account pays for itself on that alone.

ChatGPT. Since 24 August 2026 users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been seeing ads in ChatGPT, and since the end of August campaigns can be set up through a self-serve ads manager. Worth knowing for context: only logged-in adults on the free tiers and on ChatGPT Go see ads. Plus, Pro and business plans stay ad-free. In Europe delivery runs without personalised profiles for now, and sensitive fields such as health and politics are excluded.

Ads inside Google’s AI answers. Advertising within AI Overviews so far runs in roughly a dozen mostly English-speaking markets. In Germany the ads still sit above and below the AI answer rather than inside it. Google has announced further formats for AI Mode, with no date set for Europe.

Perplexity. The answer engine stopped selling advertising again in February 2026 and funds itself through subscriptions. There is nothing to book there – visibility comes through the content itself, which is what GEO is about.

Feeds and communities: advertising without a search

Meta, meaning Instagram and Facebook. The largest reach in consumer business, by far the cheapest contact prices, and an ad account anyone can operate. Strong when the product can be shown and the audience is broad. Weak when you are after twelve very specific decision-makers in industrial companies.

LinkedIn. The only platform where you can target cleanly by role, company size and industry. It is priced accordingly: double-digit costs per click are normal. It works out when a single won customer is worth four figures or more. For the local trade business it is the wrong tool.

TikTok. Fast, young, video-driven. Advertising only works here if it looks like the rest of the content. Upload a corporate film and you are burning budget. Produce short, honest videos regularly and you get reach at prices that are not available elsewhere.

Pinterest. Regularly underestimated. The platform is closer to a search engine than to a social network: people plan weddings, renovations, gardens and holidays there, often months ahead. For interiors, trades, hospitality, tourism and anything visual with a lead time, it is a good place to be.

Reddit. Topic forums with very active communities where products get discussed honestly. Ads can be booked into individual forums, which is valuable in niches. The tone is blunt, and advertising that pretends to be something else gets found out. A side effect: Reddit threads are cited frequently by AI systems, which makes the platform interesting beyond the paid space.

X, Snapchat, Twitch and the rest. They all exist and they are all bookable. For most mid-sized advertisers the effort does not pay off while the larger channels are not yet exhausted.

Moving pictures and sound

YouTube. Runs through the Google account and is the channel where something that needs explaining can actually be explained. Skippable ads before videos only cost you when someone stays. The first five seconds decide everything.

Spotify and podcasts. Audio reaches people while they drive, cook or run – in situations without a screen. Targeting works by region, age and listening context. The catch is obvious: there is no click, so the effect is harder to prove. For regional awareness it remains one of the underrated options, not least because producing a thirty-second spot stays manageable.

Connected TV. Advertising in catch-up services and on smart TVs is now bookable with smaller budgets too. Regional targeting works; measurability sits somewhere between radio and online.

Straight at the shelf: retail advertising

Amazon Ads. If you sell on Amazon, sponsored product placements are hard to avoid. Intent there is even clearer than on Google: whoever is searching already has the basket in hand.

Nearly every large retailer now sells comparable space. The umbrella term is retail media, and for brands that sell through retail it is often the most honest channel of all, because advertising and sales sit directly next to each other.

The overview

What suits what

The local service business. Google Search with a tight radius, plus a well-kept business profile. Everything else comes later. A roofer is not found on Instagram but when the ceiling starts dripping.

The specialist B2B firm. LinkedIn to reach the right roles, Google and Bing for the moments when someone searches specifically. Expect months between first contact and contract, and measure accordingly.

The online shop. Shopping ads and retail media first, because that is where the selling happens. Meta and Pinterest afterwards, for demand that has not been put into words yet.

The opening, the festival, the season. Meta within a tight radius, plus audio. Both are quick to set up and reach a lot of people in the region within days.

The offering that needs explaining. YouTube for the explanation, search advertising for the moment of decision, content for everything in between.

What to settle before the first ad goes live

• Where does the click land? On a page that matches the ad, not on the homepage. That single point decides more about the outcome than the choice of platform.
• Is anything being measured? Without conversion tracking and a properly configured consent banner you will know what you spent, but not what came of it.
• Is the budget enough for a verdict? Every platform needs a learning phase. Start too thin and stop after two weeks, and you pay tuition without learning anything.
• Who looks after it? Campaigns do not get better on their own. They get worse on their own.
• Do the creatives exist? Video and audio need material. That is not a side issue; it is usually the real bottleneck.

Frequently asked questions