2026-07-22 · MIUMX
Too many brands launch Amazon PPC across Europe with one playbook. Same keyword set, translated. Same bid strategy, copy-pasted. Same campaign structure, market to market. The result is predictable: strong performance in one market, mediocrity in the others, and a TACoS that drifts upward quarter by quarter.
The reality is that Amazon France does not behave like Amazon Germany. A Sponsored Products campaign that crushes it on amazon.de might bleed budget on amazon.es. Here's why — and what to do about it.
1. Keyword behaviour differs by market.
A French shopper searching for a video doorbell types "sonnette vidéo" or "interphone connecté." A German shopper searches "Video-Türsprechanlage" or "Türkamera mit App." Direct translation loses search volume and intent precision. Each market needs native keyword research — not translated keyword research.
What to do: Pull keyword data per marketplace. Use tools like Sorftime (which covers all 14 Amazon EU markets with per-domain keyword data). Build separate keyword universes for each market. There will be overlap — but there will also be market-specific high-volume terms your competitors are already bidding on.
2. Competitive intensity varies dramatically.
Germany is Amazon's second-largest market globally. Competition in Electronics and Home & Garden is ferocious — CPCs can run 30-50% higher than in France or Italy. Spain and the Netherlands are less saturated but growing fast, meaning lower CPCs today but increasing competition quarter-over-quarter.
What to do: Allocate budget by market potential AND competitive intensity. A €5,000 monthly PPC budget split evenly across 5 markets is usually wrong. Concentrate where you have organic rank momentum; test and learn in secondary markets with smaller budgets.
3. Bid landscapes shift locally.
The same Sponsored Products bid of €0.80 might put you top of search in Italy but page 4 in Germany. Automated bidding tools that don't respect market-level bid landscapes will systematically under-invest in high-opportunity markets and over-invest in low-competition ones.
What to do: Set market-level bid modifiers. Review placement reports by market weekly for the first 90 days after launch, then bi-weekly. Adjust before the data tells you to — small preemptive changes prevent budget bleeding.
4. ACoS expectations must be market-specific.
A 20% ACoS on amazon.fr might be excellent for a growing brand. The same 20% on amazon.de with higher CPCs might be unprofitable. Benchmarks must be market-calibrated. What's "good" in one country is "burning cash" in another.
The MIUMX approach: Market-specific campaign architecture, native keyword research per country, localised creative (yes, even for Sponsored Brands video — the thumbnail that works in France often flops in Germany), and weekly cross-market performance reviews that compare like-with-like while respecting local dynamics.