PayPal launches Ads Manager; follows Mastercard and Amex into commerce-media push

New Delhi: PayPal has unveiled PayPal Ads Manager, a product that lets its small-business merchants monetise their own websites and apps by serving ads informed by PayPal’s transaction data. 

The company pitched the tool as a way for “tens of millions” of SMBs to tap high-margin retail-media revenues that were previously the preserve of large retailers. 

The rollout is scheduled to begin in early 2026 in the US, with the UK and Germany to follow. 

Positioned inside the PayPal Merchant Portal, Ads Manager offers opt-in setup via an SDK, automated ad serving based on merchant preferences, unified campaign reporting, and closed-loop attribution powered by PayPal’s “transaction graph” and cross-merchant purchase insights. 

Merchants can also use PayPal tools to run their own ad campaigns across PayPal surfaces and social channels. 

Mark Grether, SVP and GM of PayPal Ads, said small businesses have been “locked out of the retail media revolution” and that Ads Manager will open “thousands of new, high-quality advertising placements” for brands while creating a new revenue stream for merchants. There is no upfront cost or minimum commitment, and merchants can exclude competitor categories when configuring ad preferences.

PayPal’s announcement comes days after American Express launched “Amex Ads,” an ad platform that begins with placements on AmexTravel.com and targets the company’s 34 million U.S. consumer card members, and about a week after Mastercard introduced “Mastercard Commerce Media,” a network leveraging its permissioned data and a base of 25,000 advertisers and 500 million enrolled consumers. 

Both moves highlight how payment firms are leaning on first-party data to build retail-media businesses. 

Retail media is one of the fastest-growing digital ad segments, prized for signal quality and measurable outcomes. By enabling SMBs to become retail media publishers with minimal effort, PayPal is attempting to dramatically expand available inventory while offering advertisers access to high-intent shoppers beyond big-box retail. 

If adoption scales, the product could reshape long-tail monetisation and increase competition for brand budgets traditionally reserved for major retail networks.