Filenews 18 August 2025 - by Theano Thiopoulou
Almost half of businesses in Cyprus choose to advertise online, as the internet has become a key component of communication around the world between marketers, advertisers and customers. The statistics released by Eurostat on online business advertising show that 49.44% of businesses in Cyprus used paid advertising online in 2024, well ahead of the European average of 32.6% (one in three businesses) and generally use online services to promote their products and services.
Eurostat says the internet has become an essential element of communication around the world between traders, advertisers and customers. More specifically, websites have become the first point of contact for customers to search for information and eventually buy goods or services, whether online or offline. As a result, businesses are increasing their online presence and improving their advertising practices so that current and prospective customers receive ads with content that is relevant and meaningful to them.
Among the 20 EU countries with data available for 2024, online advertising was used by more than 3 out of 5 businesses in Malta (60.4%) and by almost half of businesses in Finland (49.8%) and Cyprus (49.4%). This is followed by businesses in Greece 43.8%, Lithuania 42.21%, Ireland 42.10%, Netherlands 41.50%, Germany 38.50%. Slovakia 34.34%, Latvia 33.89%, Czech Republic 29.29%, Spain 28.02%, Hungary 27.79%, France 27.75%. At the same time, it concerned less than 25% of enterprises in Romania (22.8%), Poland (23.2%) and Portugal (23.6%). To customize online advertising, different methods can be used. Behavioural targeting was used by 41.57% of EU businesses paying for online advertising, while geo-targeting was used by 44.29%. Around 45.30% of businesses using online advertising reported using targeted online advertising methods different from those listed above.
For behavioural targeting, the highest percentages were recorded in the Czech Republic (63.37%), Romania (59.47%), Cyprus (58.07%) and Finland (52.80%). Geo-targeting was used the most by businesses advertising online in Cyprus (88.07%), followed by Malta (60.30%), the Netherlands (53.82%) and the Czech Republic (53.21%). Eurostat reports that in an effort to maximize profits and the effectiveness of their advertising, businesses are constantly developing innovative advertising practices, adopting the most advanced digital technologies available. As expected, companies carry out their marketing campaigns online and use targeted advertising methods that increase the likelihood that their marketing messages will reach the right audience.
The distribution of the types of online advertising methods used did not differ much between businesses of different size classes. Contextual advertising was the most popular type of online advertising regardless of the size class of the business and was used by 40.60% of large, 32.22% of mediums, and 23.94% of small businesses. Paid online advertising based on users' geolocation (geo-targeting) was the second most widely used type, with 27.59% of large, 19.41% of mediums, and 13.48% of small businesses reporting that they have used it in 2024.
