If you advertise into the United Kingdom, Turkey or Austria it’s about to get a bit more expensive.
We received an email from Google Ads this morning, alerting advertisers to the fact that they’re about to start charging an additional 5% in Turkey and Austria (Turkey for the “complexity and cost of complying with regulations” and in Austria to cover the cost of a new digital tax. The 2% increase in the United Kingdom is also to cover the cost of a new digital tax.
The email reads:
Dear Customer,
On 1 November 2020, Google will begin charging new fees for ads served in the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Austria.
New fees
As of 1 November 2020 we will begin adding a fee to your next invoice or statement for ads served in specific countries:
- Ads served in Turkey: a 5% Regulatory Operating Cost added to your invoice or statement
- Ads served in Austria: a 5% Austria DST Fee added to your invoice or statement
- Ads served in the United Kingdom: a 2% UK DST Fee added to your invoice or statement
The Regulatory Operating Costs are being added due to significant increases in complexity and cost of complying with regulations in Turkey. In Austria and the United Kingdom, the DST fee is driven by the new digital services tax in these countries.
You can view a more complete description of fee changes, but here are the most important changes that may apply:
Ads purchased through Google Ads
- These fees will be shown on your invoice or statement as a separate line item per country. They will also be displayed in the “Transactions” section of your Google Ads account. You’ll be charged for advertisements served in the countries mentioned above.
- Any taxes, such as sales tax, VAT, GST, or QST that apply in your country may also apply to the new fees.
- If you pay through monthly invoicing or automatic payments, these fees will be added in addition to your account budget. For example, if you have a budget of €100 and accrue €5 in Austria DST Fees for ads served in Austria, you’ll be billed €105 (plus any taxes, such as sales tax, VAT, GST, or QST, that may apply in your country).
Learn more about adjusting your account budget- If you pay through manual payments, these fees may be charged after your payment has been fully spent. You may be left with an open balance that will be automatically deducted from your next prepayment. For example, if you accumulate €5 of Regulatory Operating Costs for ads served in Turkey, and you make a new payment for €100, you would have €95 credit towards displaying ads (€100 – €5), and your available balance would show €95.
Learn more about country-specific fees
Thank you,
The Google Payments Team
Will Advertising Get More Expensive?
I suspect not.
While there are additional fees, I suspect the hit will be born by Google.
I know that as a PPC advertiser, most of the battles are to maximize ROI. All the competitors are willing to big up to $X per conversion, and that will remain the same.
So in the short run, the cost may eek up a bit, but I suspect it’ll settle back to what it’s been and Google will lose the difference.