Google contextual advertising in Romania

The online advertising market in Romania has shown strong growth in recent years. According to Eurostat, in 2023, more than 71% of the Romanian population regularly used the Internet, which shows the wide digital penetration of the population. It is also worth noting that the proportion of the economically active population in Romania is about 59%, which opens up significant potential for online trading.

The average income in Romania is about 700–800 euros per month, which is significantly higher than in most countries of the former USSR, but lower than in most of the countries that are members of the European Union. This, however, does not detract from the potential of the market, as there is significant growth opportunity here, especially in the context of stabilizing the economy and improving living standards.

Based on these data, the launch of contextual advertising in Romania, as well as the opening of new areas of online commerce and the provision of services on the Internet in this country, look like a very promising direction.

Peculiarities of setting up contextual advertising in Romania

The key to efficiency when setting up contextual advertising in Romania is a careful study of local characteristics and consumer interests, which will allow you to most accurately target advertising campaigns. Take into account the following factors:

Target audience

When setting up an advertising campaign, at the first stage it is important to study your target audience – where they live, what their interests are, what language they speak and other features of their behavior.

Statistically, the majority of Internet users in Romania are between the ages of 16 and 54. This is an economically active population that regularly makes purchases on the Internet. According to Eurostat, men and women in Romania use the Internet approximately equally, which means that you can target your ads to both audiences equally.

Most of the active population in the country belongs to the middle class, which means that elite and premium goods, such as jewelry, original Chanel bags, or tours to the Maldives, will not be in great demand here. At the same time, clothes, household appliances, pet products and other everyday goods can be sold well.

Geo targeting

When setting up Google Ads in Romania or any other country, geographic targeting plays a key role. It is important to understand where most of the active target audience resides in order to direct maximum efforts to these locations.

The largest number of active Internet users live in large cities – the capital of the country, Bucharest, as well as Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. Set up your marketing campaigns on them first.

At the same time, it is important to take into account the pendulum migration during the day – many active consumers live in the nearest suburbs, but work in the capital. As a result, a situation arises when in the morning a user located in the town of Buftea (a suburb of Bucharest) can search for reviews of restaurants in the capital where you can book a table for today.

Language targeting

Romanian is the official language, it is considered native by about 87% of the local population. When setting up Google AdWords, firstly, create a campaign in this language.

Approximately 30-40% of the country speaks English at a fairly good level. Moreover, this percentage is higher among young people and the urban population. Therefore, if you want to target your ads to a paying audience, you can create a separate campaign in English.

At the same time, keep in mind that for a PPC specialist, setting up advertising in two languages is tantamount to running two separate projects, which will affect the price of campaign maintenance.

The Hungarian language also has a point distribution in Romania, mainly in the territory of Transylvania. It is used in communication by about 6.1% of all residents of the country. If your target audience lives in this area, it’s a good idea to translate your ads and landing page text into Hungarian.

As a result of the communist heritage and the country’s close ties with the USSR in the past, approximately 5% of local residents speak Russian sufficiently to communicate. But mostly it is the older generation, it is not popular among young people.

Seasonality in advertising

As in most European countries, sales peak in Romania around Christmas and Easter. In addition, the local population traditionally participates in sales on Black Friday.

But there is also regional seasonality, which is tied to certain geolocations. So, in the city of Constanta and its environs, where beach holidays are common, the greatest activity falls on the tourist season, which runs from the second half of May to October.

In addition, Constanta is home to the largest seaport in the country, so this city can also be considered for targeting, especially if you provide logistics services.

Also, a pronounced seasonality is relevant for the ski resorts of Romania. The most famous of them are Sinai, Predeal and Brasov. These towns are located in the central part of the country, surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, and in winter attract crowds of tourists from all over the world.

What is forbidden to advertise in Romania?

1. Tobacco products. As Romania is a member of the European Union, restrictions on cigarette advertising are imposed by EU Directive 2003/33/EC. It imposes a ban on advertising of tobacco, electronic cigarettes and any products related to smoking.
2. Alcohol. In accordance with Romanian law, advertising of alcoholic products is subject to restrictions. For example, an ad must not target people under the age of 18. Also, the text of the advertising creative should not contain statements that alcohol contributes to social success.
3. Gambling. Legislation in Romania strictly regulates gambling advertising. To do this, the company must obtain the appropriate license from the National Office of Gambling (ONJN).
4. Medicines and medical services. Advertising of medicines and medical services is highly regulated. For example, it is prohibited for prescription drugs, and for brands advertising over-the-counter products, a license is required.
5. Financial services. Such companies must comply with local regulations and comply with EU law. They must be registered and have a work permit.
6. Products for adults. Ads must not contain “nudity”, and the advertising campaign itself must be aimed at an adult audience.

Google Ads contextual advertising cost in Romania

Cost per click is far from the only factor influencing the price of contextual advertising in Romania. Important components are also competition in the niche, total market size, quality of landing pages, payment for the services of a marketing agency and much more.

But still, when evaluating its prospects in a particular market, a company should firstly pay attention to the rate per click on ads in Google Ads in its subject area. For Google advertising, this data can be viewed in the Keyword Planner service. Below are examples of prices for some destinations:

• manicure – $0.40;
• permanent makeup – $0.22;
• dentist – $1.18;
• refrigerators – $0.30;
• Korean cosmetics – $0.29;
• dog food – $0.39;
• fertilizer for flowers – $0.13.

As you can see from the statistics above, prices for contextual advertising in Romania are not high, which means that you can enter this market with relatively low marketing budgets.

Google share of total search traffic in Romania

According to the Similar Web service, Google holds a confident first place in the search engine market in Romania and collects 97.04% of organic traffic from this country.

Its closest competitor is Bing, which comes in second with a 1.91% share. All other search engines in the aggregate are used by no more than 1% of Romanians.

All this makes setting up Google Ads in Romania a very promising tool for business development and connecting new traffic sources. In addition to high reach, Google Ads can provide high ROI and a loyal audience.